


The Darkest Hour

by BluebellWinter



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Everyone has the weird need to start giving Juliana bracelets, Jeremy has a twin sister, Lots of talk about mental health, Multi, Other supernatural characters get involved, She's basically a witch, She's like their little sister, Stefan and Damon care a lot about Juliana, Tags will be updated as I go along, Witchcraft, sibling relationships, so she won't date them, that'll be weird and awkward
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28883907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluebellWinter/pseuds/BluebellWinter
Summary: Instead of Elena surviving the car accident that killed her parents, it was Jeremy and his twin sister, Juliana. No one knows how they survived, except for her. She knew that her magic had saved her and Jeremy that night. When danger comes to Mystic Falls, Juliana realizes she has to tap into her magic and protect what remains of her family.
Relationships: Damon Salvator/Original Female Character(s), Damon Salvatore & Original Female Character(s), Elena Gilbert & Original Female Character(s), Jeremy Gilbert & Original Female Character(s), Jeremy Gilbert/Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s), OC/OC, Stefan Salvatore & Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

> " _I created the sound of madness,_  
>  _Wrote the book on pain._  
>  _Somehow I'm still here to explain,_  
>  _That the darkest hour never comes in the night._ "
> 
> Sound of Madness – Shinedown

Juliana Gilbert looked out her window of the car. It was a stormy night, something that she usually enjoyed, but considering everything that had happened, the fact that she was coming back from the mental hospital the next town over, she really wasn't in the mood to appreciate the rain. Jeremy was looking bored as hell. Juliana was sure that he was happy to see her after three months of her being in the mental hospital, but now on the drive back, it was boring.

It was funny that when a person is younger and claimed things, it was cute. But when a person gets older and claims the same thing, it's worrying and possibly has something to do with a mental illness. Of course, no one told Juliana to stop claiming she was a witch when she got older and kept claiming that she was one. Maybe that was was why she had no friends besides her brother, but he didn't count.

The rather unpleasant mood had worsened when the road that they were supposed to take to get back home ended up blocked so they had to go through Wickery Bridge to get back home.

Juliana really _hated_ Wickery Bridge because she always felt like bad things happen on that bridge; things that were never talked about and kept well-hidden. Things like a few drunken college guys risking a walk across the bridge and somehow falling to their deaths; maybe there was a few suicides…and perhaps a few murders as well. Sometimes Juliana is surprised by how dark her mind can go.

"I don't like the idea of medicating a teenage girl," their mother was saying.

"And I don't like the idea of her running around claiming that she's a witch," replied their father. "She almost burnt down a barn while having one of her delusional episodes. She needs to be medicated so she doesn't get killed or accidentally killed someone. We just have to…make sure that another repeat of the past doesn't happen."

Juliana frowned at how her dad had phrased it. She also didn't want a reminder of that incident because she still felt guilty for accidentally leaving behind a burning candle, which caught the barn on fire.

"How will people react to finding out that she has delusions?" snarled Miranda. "Small towns don't like freaks."

Juliana felt a pang in her heart at that. Her mom thought that she was a freak?

"Lia's not a freak!" exclaimed Jeremy angrily.

Juliana took Jeremy's hand and gave it a squeeze as thanks. Jeremy shook her hand away from him.

"I'm not calling her a freak," Miranda said calmly. "I'm just saying that some people won't take to kindly of Lia because she has a mental illness."

"Nobody takes mental illness kindly anywhere," Jeremy pointed out.

"We're just worried about your sister, that's all." Grayson replied in what Juliana guessed was supposed to be a soothing voice. "That's why we decided to get her treated for it."

"Yet you're not worried about Lia when you were casually insulting her when she's sitting right here," replied Jeremy sounding like he was growing angry.

"Its fine, Jer," replied Juliana weakly. It really wasn't, but she just didn't want to have an argument, in the night, during a storm.

"No, it isn't," replied Jeremy hotly. "They're talking about you like you're a problem when you're not. They're the problem!"

Grayson started talking loudly, "We're not saying that she's a problem—"

"Pull over," replied Jeremy.

"What?" asked Grayson.

"Pull over," replied Jeremy. "Lia and I will walk back since she's obviously a problem for you both."

Juliana wasn't sure if she wanted to cross the bridge on foot. It was probably easy for her brother, considering that Juliana was 5'5. Then again, what was life without a few risks?

"Yeah, pull over," replied Juliana.

"You two aren't crossing the bridge, especially not in this weather," scolded their mother.

"Then how about you try treating Lia like a normal person," said Jeremy.

"We _are_ treating her like a normal person," said Grayson.

Juliana wished that they weren't arguing in this type of weather, especially when they had to cross the goddamn bridge in a _car,_ during a storm. She hated getting worst-case scenarios. Her mind seemed to decide that it was going to be very unhelpful by flashing to various death-inducing accidents. She grabbed Jeremy's hand as they seemed to rapidly approach the bridge.

"Doesn't seem like it," replied Jeremy, shaking Juliana's hand off again.

Juliana noticed something and screamed, "Watch out!"

The car swerved and went over the railing. Juliana screamed as the car plummeted into the water below.

* * *

Juliana felt someone shaking her. She didn't want to move because her head was throbbing very painfully and it felt like her limbs were being held down by weights.

"Lia," a hoarse voice whispered. "Lia." The voice sounded more insistent and terrified. "Lia!"

Juliana groaned and coughed. She managed to say, "Just leave me alone to die."

"Oh, thank god," said the voice sounding very relieved. "You're still your usual grumpy self."

Juliana cracked open her eyes. Despite her vision being blurry she can make out her brother hovering over her.

"Am I in hell?" asked Juliana, her vision finally clearing.

"N-no," replied Jeremy, sounding very shaken.

"Then why is your face the first thing that I'm seeing when I got to heaven?" Juliana asked. She sat up, wincing as her body felt like one giant bruise. She looked around. They were on the river's edge.

"What heaven would allow you through the gates?" joked Jeremy.

Juliana smacked his arm and rubbed at her forehead. Her temple was bleeding and she wiped her nose with her other hand. Her nose was bleeding as well. _That's just great,_ she thought bitterly.

"What's the last thing you remember?" asked Jeremy.

Juliana remembered screaming and seeing the black water rushing at them. She got up and looked over at the rushing river. "Are they okay?"

There were red flashing lights and sirens piercing the air that made Juliana feel sick.

"Lia," said Jeremy once again.

"I need to know if they're alive," replied Juliana. The sick feeling in her stomach that she was trying to ignore worsened. Why did everything have to go to hell? Why did everything have to go to hell especially when she just got out of the mental hospital? She just reunited with her parents and then they…no, she wasn't going to say it. Her parents _had_ to be alive. They just had to _be_! Maybe they were farther down the river…

"Lia," Jeremy started saying.

Juliana turned to Jeremy. He was soaking wet and Juliana was sure that she was too. "What is it?"

"How did we get out of the car?" asked Jeremy sounding a little distressed.

An ambulance, fire truck, and a police car pulled up.

That…was a very good question, Juliana had to admit.

How did they get out of the car?

It was when a doctor started poking and prodding at certain spots on Juliana that she winced at and when she tried answering questions that she already forgot from a police officer, that she came to a conclusion.

Her magic must have saved her and her brother.

But now she had another question that she had to ask: why did her magic save her and her brother, but not their parents?


	2. But I'll Tell You a Secret. All The Best People Are.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_I am extremely anxious today. Granted, I've been anxious before and after the accident. Usually it comes and goes, but lately, it seems like all day I've been filled with anxiety. I don't know how to get rid of it. I think it has something to do with the accident. Have I apologized for it? If not, I'm sorry._

_I'm worried about Jeremy. He hasn't been taking it well. He keeps giving me strange looks lately. I think he blames me. It's all right. I blame myself, too. He's been smoking weed and drinking a lot. I just wish he would talk to me again. I want to help him, but I think he needs some time alone. Vicki tried to 'help' but I don't think she was helping him. Jeremy seems to be obsessed with her; but I know that she made up her mind to date Tyler ' ~~The Douche~~ ' Lockwood._

_Elena…is Elena. She broke up with Matt for some reason. She's trying to deal with it. She keeps asking if I'm okay, and I keep telling her I'm fine. I don't want her to worry anymore. I allowed her to brush my hair yesterday and put eyeliner on me. She seemed happy to do that, which I'm glad for._

_Aunt Jenna's trying. I know that. She's distracted lately, but I made cookies with her yesterday too. She seemed happy. I tried to discuss something with her, but she was distracted by something, again, but she's trying, that's all I can say._

_Jeremy…I can't say a lot about him. I tried talking to him but he closed his door in my face._

_Also, my pills is running low. Elena and I suspect Jeremy's selling them. I need to have a talk with him about that._

_How are you guys doing, by the way? I'm sorry for going on about the B.S. in my life that I forgot to ask about your day. I imagine that you're playing your favorite songs on the radio and dancing in the kitchen as you make your favorite pasta. I miss watching you two._

_I hope Elena's been telling you all about her day. I know Jeremy hasn't been by. I think he can't bring himself to it. I should bring him by. I bet you miss him._

_It's been hard for me to visit, but it's getting easier for me._

_I hope you enjoyed the candles that I lit up for you. It's apple-cinnamon. For some reason it reminds me of Christmas. It brings up a lot of memories of us watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Olive, the Other Reindeer. I still chuckle at how Jeremy dragged me down to open our Christmas presents early to take a peek and got gag gifts instead. You both were so amused by catching us like that._

_Sorry, but Elena just texted me that it's time for me to get home._

_I'll come by tomorrow and give you an update on what's up._

_Love you both,_

_Juliana_

Juliana closed her red, spiral-bound hardcover notebook and stood up. She capped her pen and put her notebook and pen in her [blue canvas backpack](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1007/9708/products/bag-cat-polka-dot-canvas-backpack-2_grande.jpg?v=1496827752). It had white polka-dots on it and two side compartments, white the front compartment that had black and white cats on the front.

She closed and fastened her bag and opened her [owl-shaped shoulder bag](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fa/17/a9/fa17a95b119e37b7c1f1ee2f16f0835d.jpg). She picked up the candle she had lit and blew out the fire. She put the lid on the jar and stuck it in her shoulder bag. She closed the flap and got up from where she was sitting on her jacket. She grabbed her jacket and put her messenger bag over on shoulder and put her owl shoulder bag over her other shoulder, which she knew looked obnoxious.

"See you tomorrow, Mom and Dad," she said to the headstone. She started walking to leave the cemetery.

A crow cawed and Juliana looked over her shoulder at the trees.

"Hey, what are you laughing at!" she called to where the crow was at and continued walking. She started feeling anxious again. Her hands were starting to shake and she picked up her pace.

"Hey, Adrienne!" a guy called.

Juliana continued walking and looked over her shoulder again to see if maybe Adrienne was around or if the guy was confusing her for Adrienne, but no one was there.

She turned around and nearly walked into someone.

The guy was tall, at least compared to her. She was 5'5.

The guy was looking down at her. No, he wasn't looking at her; he seemed to be scrutinizing her. It was extremely awkward to say. Well, he was good-looking, but he was far too old for her. He was probably in his mid-twenties.

"Going somewhere, Adrienne?" the guy asked, seeming amused.

Juliana was confused, "Huh? I'm not Adrienne. You're confusing me for someone else." She really looked at the guy. "I'm Juliana, you must be new here." She stuck out her hand and the man seemed to examine it. Juliana lowered her hand, glancing down at her hand. She wore a silver ring that had a pink butterfly on it. "Right, you better go before someone sees you talking to the residential basket case."

"You're the residential basket-case?" questioned the guy, sounding curious and even more amused.

"Yes," replied Juliana. "Well, before you hear it from everyone else, I went to a mental hospital for three months because I was telling people I was a witch and I nearly burned down a building for accidentally leaving a lit candle behind. You must've been here for probably two minutes if you didn't hear the rumors. I better get going so my crazy doesn't rub off on you." Maybe that was why her brother didn't want to be around her anymore.

She started walking away and to her surprise and slight annoyance the guy started following her.

"What is it now?" she asked.

"I don't mind hanging out with crazy," replied the man.

"I'm fifteen," replied Juliana. "You don't want to end up on some kind of list."

"I'm not going to end up on a list just for talking to someone. You happen to remind me of someone who was like a little sister to me and my brother," replied the man.

That was…extremely awkward to hear. Juliana said, "I don't even know your name."

"It's Damon," replied the man, who now had a name.

"Okay," replied Juliana. "Isn't that supposed to be the Anti-Christ's name?"

"It's Damien and I believe that a name has no bearing on a person's personality," replied Damon.

"Okay," replied Juliana. She had the thought of hitting him upside the head with her owl shoulder bag and running away from him.

But…all they were having is a conversation, which isn't creepy or illegal.

"So, does the town basket-case always hang around the cemetery?" asked Damon.

"I'm just visiting my parents," said Juliana, pointing in the direction of the headstone. "Besides, I have nowhere to go. No one wants to be seen with me in fear that I'll rub off on them and I don't have any friends."

"So you thought you were a witch?" asked Damon.

How did they get back to that topic? It was mentioned a few minutes ago.

Juliana cringed at that, "Yeah. I don't know why I was claiming that."

"I believe you," said Damon.

"Then you must be crazy too," accused Juliana.

"I believe that are a lot of things out there that people don't know about," said Damon. "Besides, we crazies have to stick together after all."

"Well, they do say that birds of a feather are dicks together," said Juliana.

Damon did a laugh. "No one says that."

"I do," replied Juliana.

"You really do remind me of…" Damon started but trailed off. He had a hint of sadness in his voice.

"That one girl, Adrienne?" asked Juliana out of curiosity.

"Yeah," said Damon. He sounded a little sad.

"What happened to her?" Juliana asked.

"Lia!" called a girl.

"Lia!" a different girl called.

Juliana turned around to look. She spotted Elena and Bonnie. They were running and looking worried. Oops.

"Over here!" called Juliana.

She turned to look at Damon, but he was gone. She frowned. Where did he go? Did she hallucinate that encounter? It would make sense. No one, besides her sister and aunt, would dare to be seen in her presence.

"Oh, my god," said Elena. "We thought that something bad happened. Jeremy's going out of his mind with worry."

Jeremy? Worried about her? He was to busy getting high to even pay attention to anything. Elena tried acting like everything was okay and Juliana's emotions shut down, leaving her feeling numb, except for anxiety.

"Have you been here all this time?" demanded Elena.

"I…guess I just lost track of time," replied Juliana slightly annoyed. That was good, right? Feeling annoyed?

"Yeah, let's go," said Bonnie. "Elena was beginning to think…"

"What? I've been kidnapped? Who wants to kidnap the basket case?" replied Juliana.

"Wasn't it once said that all the best people are crazy?" asked Elena.

Juliana heard and read that quote many times. "Stop quoting _Alice in Wonderland_."

"You love that movie and book," Elena replied.

Juliana nodded, "I know. I do." She looked at Bonnie, who was looking at her, in an almost contemplative manner.

"I'm thinking of trying out for the volleyball team," said Juliana.

Elena seemed to brighten, "That's wonderful. It'll be good for you to branch out. It'll be a new start."

Juliana nodded, "Thanks. I've been thinking of dyeing some purple streaks in my hair. Start off the school year as a different person. My delusional days are over."

Again, Bonnie was giving her that strange look. "Sure…"

"I'm not lying," replied Juliana.

"I'm not saying that you are," replied Bonnie.

Juliana figured that it would be better to stay silent instead of getting into an argument.


	3. School Sucks

Juliana did add a dark purple streak and a light purple streak in her hair near her temples. It made her feel better and made her like she was a bit of a new person. Maybe this year, things will be different. Maybe when she joins the marching band, she'll make a friend…maybe she'll get her first boyfriend…well, Josh was her first boyfriend, but they were in the mental hospital at the time and that shouldn't count. They were on medication and really couldn't agree to anything.

Elena actually took the time out of writing in her diary to put eyeliner on Juliana. Elena seemed happy to show her how it was done.

Juliana decided to braid a lock of her hair, but she didn't even get halfway done with it, before she used a bobby pin to hold her braid down. She figured that it was good enough.

When she walked in the kitchen, Aunt Jenna asked, "What do you want for breakfast?"

Juliana shrugged, "I don't know."

"Toast," said Aunt Jenna sounding panicked. "I can make you toast."

"That'll be fine," said Juliana.

"Lia, you should know that it's all about the coffee," said Elena as she walked in. She poured herself a cup of coffee.

"I don't like coffee," Juliana grumbled. She really didn't. All coffee was to her was caffeinated bean water.

"Is there coffee?" asked Jeremy, coming into the kitchen, wearing all black clothing. Juliana glanced at her clothes: black skinny jeans, a gray sleeveless tee-shirt, an opened leather zip-up vest, and black chunky boots.

As far as she knew, she was supposed to be the one that wore dark clothing, not Jeremy.

"I still think you should get rid of the nail polish before the douche makes fun of you," Juliana said to Jeremy.

"And how do you know if he will?" asked Jeremy.

"He was the one who started the rumors about me and he hates you," Juliana pointed out. She faltered as Jeremy looked at her. "Besides, if he does, tell him that Corey Taylor wore red and black nail polish, so there's that."

"Here's your toast, Lia," said Aunt Jenna, passing her a plate of toast.

Juliana took the plate, "Thank you, Aunt Jenna."

"Do you have everything? Your binder? Your notebooks?" asked Aunt Jenna.

"Yes," said Juliana. "I packed my bag last night."

"I can't believe that it's your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared," said Aunt Jenna.

"It's okay," said Juliana. "We understand why."

"Lunch money?" offered Aunt Jenna.

"No," declined Elena.

Before Juliana could grab a few dollars, Jeremy took it all. Juliana said, "Hey! I plan on eating lunch!"

Jeremy grudgingly handed her a few dollar bills.

"Thank you," replied Juliana.

"Oh, here, this was left to you," said Aunt Jenna handing Juliana a small brown envelope that felt like it held something in it.

"Who is it from?" asked Jeremy, sounding a little suspicious.

Juliana looked it front and back. It just had her name on it. "It doesn't say."

Jeremy took the envelope from Juliana and opened it.

"Give that back to her, Jer," replied Elena sounding disapproving.

Jeremy tossed the envelope back to Juliana. Juliana took it and stuck it in one of the side compartments of her bag.

"Is there anything else I'm forgetting? A number two pencil?" asked Aunt Jenna. "What am I missing?"

"Don't you have some big presentation today?" asked Elena.

"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at…" Aunt Jenna started, looking at her watch, "Now. Crap!" She removed the hair band from her hair, letting her hair down.

"You can go, I think we can handle ourselves," said Juliana.

Aunt Jenna looked at the three of them and sighed. She took her stuff and walked out.

"You okay?" Elena asked Jeremy.

Jeremy muttered, "Don't start." He walked away with his mug.

Juliana rolled her eyes at her brother's rudeness.

"How about you, Lia?" asked Elena. "Are you okay?"

Juliana considered lying, except no…she had made a promise to herself after the funeral to be more honest to her siblings, except for the witch thing. "No. I'm just feeling anxious over everything."

Elena seemed to relax, like she was glad that her younger sister was being truthful and not shutting her out like Jeremy. "I would say that's good to hear, but…after everything, it's natural for you to feel anxious."

Juliana nodded and looked at Elena. "How about you? Are _you_ okay?" After all, Elena kept asking if they're okay and no one asked her.

"I'm not…" Elena admitted, "But I will be. Do you want a ride with Bonnie, Caroline, and me?"

"No, I want to get to the school early to see if I can join the volleyball team," said Juliana. "If not, well, I'll see if I can try out for band."

Elena nodded, "Okay. Be careful out there, they still hadn't found that one couple."

Juliana looked over at the TV to see that two pictures of a couple were still on, and with the caption saying STILL MISSING.

"I will," Juliana said.

"What was in that envelope anyway?" asked Elena.

Juliana almost rolled her eyes. Of course Elena was nosy, but…Juliana took the envelope out of the side compartment of her backpack and opened it. There was a folded note and a necklace.

The necklace was a bottle that held something blue in it, which was sealed off with a cork. On the bottle it said Drink Me on it and next to the bottle had a silver key pendant. She took it out and Elena snatched it. She looked at it and Juliana looked in the envelope, spotting a folded piece of paper. She took it out and opened it to read:

_"You're mad, bonkers, completely off your head, but I'll tell you a secret…_   
_All of the best people are."_

_Have a great first day of school._

_Your friend,_   
_Damon_

Juliana frowned at that. Her encounter was actually real? How did he know where she lived? She didn't even tell Damon where she lived! It was actually a little scary.

Elena was examining the necklace, as if Juliana was going to get killed by a necklace.

"That's cute," said Elena, and put the chain over Juliana's head and settled it around her neck. "There." She moved Juliana's hair from out under the chain and fixed it.

Elena took the note from Juliana's hand and read it. Elena frowned, "Who is Damon?"

 _Damn it. How do I explain it?_ Juliana thought as she took the note back, sticking it back in a compartment. "Well, I thought I was hallucinating talking to a guy. You know that I'm delusional and have hallucinations." That wasn't really a lie. After he vanished in mid-air she was sure that she had imagined him. No one, besides her family, and her sister's friends would dare to talk to her.

Elena seemed to consider this. "You know, I'm beginning to doubt that you're mentally ill. Bonnie is beginning to tell me that you're not."

Juliana frowned at that, "Really?"

"And she did predict Obama and Heath Ledger," said Elena.

"Rest in peace, Heath," muttered Juliana. She really loved his portrayal of the Joker on Batman. "I better get going." She gathered her bags and took off.

* * *

After about five minutes of walking, Juliana really regretted not taking Elena's offer of being driven to school. She took out her iPod and ear buds and put her ear buds in. She looked at her music albums and picked the album One-X by Three Days Grace.

She started walking again. She got a block down when from the corner of her eye; she noticed a blue convertible pulling up alongside her.

Now, she knew that she should run in the opposite direction or something, but she stopped and looked to see that it was Damon.

"Want a ride?" asked Damon.

Juliana hesitated and thought, _screw it._ She went to the passenger side of the convertible and opened the door. She got in and closed the door. Before she could even buckle her seatbelt, Damon took off.

"I'm glad that you got my first day of school present," said Damon grinning.

Juliana looked at her necklace, "Oh, yeah, thank you for giving it to me. I appreciate it, but you didn't have to give me something."

"Of course, I had to give my friend something," said Damon.

Juliana frowned, "You think of me as a friend?"

"Yes," said Damon. "Even the Mad Hatter in _Alice in Wonderland_ had friends."

"Okay," said Juliana. "I guess I'm the Mad Hatter? What does that make you? Alice?"

"I'd like to think I'm the White Rabbit," said Damon. "I seem to lead people down the rabbit hole. Do you always walk to school?"

"No," replied Juliana. "I usually get a ride with my sister and her friends. However, I decided to go to school early to see if I can sign up for the volleyball team."

"I see what you're doing," said Damon.

"Oh, do you now?" asked Juliana a little too harshly.

Damon seemed amused at her harshness. "Yes, you're going to pretend to be the White Rabbit and lead the whole team down the rabbit hole into your madness."

"And I'm going to host tea parties with them," Juliana joked.

"Don't forget to invite me," replied Damon. "I'll be the March Hare and I'll assume your sister is going to be Alice."

"And my brother can be the dormouse," replied Juliana.

"Why the dormouse?" asked Damon.

"He's…into the getting high scene," said Juliana. "So, he's kind of sleepy at times."

Damon nodded, "I see."

"I mean, it's to cope with trauma," said Juliana. "Unless he actually likes it, then that's a whole other story."

"Trauma?" asked Damon.

"Well…four months ago, my parents, and Jeremy, he's my brother, kind of got into this accident. Jeremy and I are the survivors," said Juliana. She wasn't going to tell Damon her problems. He wasn't a therapist.

Damon nodded, "I'm sorry. My parents died a long time ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that," replied Juliana. She meant it.

"My brother is the only person I have left," said Damon. "It's complicated."

"Was there a girl involved?" asked Juliana.

"What?" asked Damon.

"I heard that sometimes when brothers decide to stop talking to each other, that there's a girl involved," Juliana responded.

"And the other times?" questioned Damon.

"There's also toxic behavior that makes you stop talking to them," replied Juliana.

Damon nodded, like he understood. "Do you want a ride back home after school?"

Juliana almost cringed at the offer. "Jeremy and I usually walk home after school." She wasn't entirely sure if she wanted Damon to drop her off at home. That would raise a lot of alarm bells and questions that she really didn't want to answer; especially from Elena.

"Okay," said Damon.

They finally got to Mystical Falls High and Juliana looked up at the building. She felt dread at seeing it.

"Hey, it's okay," said Damon. "It's your first day of school, so it's reasonable that you you're going to be dreading it."

"I'm just dreading what Lockwood would say about me this time," said Juliana.

"What he would say about you, is probably about himself," replied Damon.

"Thanks, I think," replied Juliana before leaving the convertible and started walking to the school.

* * *

After dealing with the female coach for the school volleyball team, Juliana got some medical forms that a doctor had to fill out and other things that she promptly forgot. She stuck them in her bag and left the girls' locker room. She was thankful that Lockwood and Co. weren't lurking by just to get their creep on.

She went to find her locker and opened it.

"Lia!" a male voice called and Juliana almost hurled herself right into her locker.

She turned around and found her sister's ex, standing right next to her. "Jesus Christ, Matt. What the hell?"

He was wearing his leatherman jacket, which was red with black sleeves. Despite him being friends with her sister when they were younger, he never really paid any attention to her and Jeremy. That was before everything went to hell…before Lockwood turned into a dick.

"I just wanted to know if Elena talked about me over the summer," said Matt.

Juliana stared at him in disbelief as she put a few notebooks on the shelf in her lock. They were busy grieving their dead parents. She spoke as evenly as she could, "No. I'm sorry, Matt. If she did speak of you, it wasn't to me or Jeremy."

Matt nodded and left, without as much as another word. Juliana rolled her eyes. And her siblings and parents called her a drama-queen?

She put another notebook on the shelf.

"Adrienne?" a different male voice asked.

And for the second time that day, Juliana nearly threw herself right into her locker. She turned and looked at a different boy. He looked to be slightly older than a high school senior. He was also stunningly attractive.

"I'm sorry?" replied Juliana.

"I thought you were someone else," replied the guy. "Sorry."

"Its fine," replied Juliana.

The guy started, "You just happen to—"

"Look like someone who was like a little sister to you?" finished Juliana.

"Yeah, how did you guess?" asked the guy.

"Do you by any chance have an older brother named Damon?" asked Juliana.

"Yeah, why?" the guy asked.

"I met him like last a day or so ago," said Juliana.

The guy nodded. "Do you know where the receptionist area is at?"

Juliana almost sighed, "Do you want me to walk you there or…?"

"Yeah, walk me there," said the guy. "I'm Stefan Salvatore by the way."

"Juliana Gilbert," replied the girl as she closed and locked her locker. She started leading Stefan to the receptionist. "Are you related to the guy that owns the boarding house?"

"He's my uncle," replied Stefan. "I'm staying with him."

"Because your parents died?" finished Juliana, almost cringing at how she sounded at what she said.

"Yeah, Damon told you that?" replied Stefan.

"He did, today," replied Juliana. "He drove me to school."

"He must like you," said Stefan.

"He said I remind him of a little sister figure he had or has," replied Juliana. "Adrienne. What happened to her?"

"It's a…complicated mess," said Stefan.

"I'm assuming she died," said Juliana.

"No, she didn't. She…went missing. Vanished without a trace," said Stefan. "We tried looking for her, but nothing. She disappeared as if by…never mind."

For a brief moment, Juliana thought that he was going to say 'magic' but no…she couldn't go there again. She didn't want to spend more time in a mental hospital. "Abductions are terrifying like that," she responded. "One minute, someone's there and the next…"

"Nothing," responded Stefan.

They made it to the receptionist area and Stefan smiled at Juliana. "Thank you for the directions and conversation."

"Yeah, you too," she responded and walked away. She heard Stefan laughing and realized what she had said.

She got a few feet down the hall when she heard a female yell, "Lia!"

And for the third time, Juliana almost threw herself into someone else's open locker.

She turned and saw a blonde girl wake up to her. "Caroline?"

"Yeah, how are you?" asked Caroline, pulling Juliana into a hug.

"I could be better," replied Juliana trying to ignore how people openly stared at them. Yeah, the popular cheerleader hugging the school nut job. What has this world had gone to? "I could be worse. I could be Jeremy right now."

Caroline cringed at the mention of Jeremy. "I saw you talking to some hot guy. You know he's far too old for you, right?"

Juliana scowled, "Of course I know. If he wasn't new, he wouldn't had talked to me."

"He's new?" asked Caroline with far more interest.

"Obviously," replied Juliana. "He talked to me." She turned and continued down the hallway back to her locker.

Some time had passed and then, "Hey, Lia."

Once more Juliana nearly hurled herself right into her locker. "What is it, Elena?"

"I found out that Jeremy had gotten stoned right before school," said Elena. "Can you talk to him? He listens to you a little more than me."

Juliana sighed, "He barely talked to me over the summer because he was to busy getting high. I doubt he'll talk to me."

"You're his twin," said Elena. "Twins have that special connection."

"Well that connection was severed after the accident," said Juliana.

"You can try," said Elena. "I'm tired of watching him destroy his life."

"Me too," replied Juliana.

Elena seemed to brighten, "Then you'll talk to him, right?"

"I guess," mumbled Juliana.

Elena brushed back a lock of Juliana's hair, "Thank you, Lia."

"You're welcome Elena," said Juliana. "Matt asked me if you were talking about him over the summer. I told him that if you did, it wasn't to me or to Jeremy."

Elena sighed, "Thank you."

The bell rang.

* * *

The first class that Juliana had was math, after that was science.

After science was when Juliana managed to find Jeremy among the sea of students. She tried to get through the large group, but she couldn't.

"Hey, move it! The mixed bag of nuts has somewhere to be and people to see!" Juliana shouted. Luckily a few people stepped out of her way so she managed to get to Jeremy quicker. He tried to run, but couldn't get far.

Juliana managed to catch up to him. "Hey, Jeremy, I wanted to compare our schedules to see if we have any classes together."

Jeremy groaned, but produced his schedule. "I know why you want to talk to me."

"Duh, I just told you that I wanted to compare schedules," Juliana said.

"I know Elena talked to you," said Jeremy.

Juliana looked at her schedule. Besides math and science she had a cooking class that she decided to take, then gym, history, art, Spanish 2, and then English. Her brother didn't have any classes with her, which she wasn't surprised at. She knew that the schools usually split up twins so that it would be less 'grouping'.

"She did," Juliana admitted.

Jeremy groaned, "I don't want another lecture."

Someone rammed straight in Juliana, making her stumble right into Jeremy. Luckily they didn't lose their balance and Juliana saw the back of Lockwood.

Juliana yelled, "Watch you're going, ass—"

Jeremy nudged her to make her stop her yell. "Ignore him; we all know what he is."

Something was bothering him, Juliana could tell. "What's bothering you?"

"You mean besides him purposely ramming into you?" asked Jeremy.

Juliana was actually touched that Jeremy was mad on her behalf. He was finally caring about her again. She nodded, "Yeah, besides that."

"He said something that pissed me off," said Jeremy.

"Let me guess, ' _I heard that the crazy chicks are the best at sex. I plan on testing this theory, starting with your crazy twin sister,_ '" Juliana said using a false imitation of Lockwood.

Jeremy looked angry, "He already said that to you?"

"No, but I heard that a variation of that in the mental hospital. In one of our group therapy session things, one guy said that his father told him to never stick his dick in crazy. He dated this one girl who was so abusive that he almost killed himself just to get out of his relationship with her because he couldn't see a way to get out of it," explained Juliana. Jeremy looked horrified. Juliana continued, "The last thing was something that no doubt Lockwood would say. I wouldn't put to much stock in what he said to you though. He's just trying to piss you off and its working."

"You guys had group therapy sessions?" asked Jeremy.

"Yeah," explained Juliana. "We just talked about problems and we empathized with each other." She shrugged.

The bell rang and Juliana was actually a little glad to get away from the conversation. Sure, she brought up her stay in the mental hospital, but she really never liked talking about it.

It was the last time she saw her parents alive and it was just uncomfortable talking about it.

She still remembered that one fight between those two boys that turned practically into a mini-scale riot with everyone trying to fight each other. She was a little ashamed to admit that she had joined in the fight and started flinging a chair around.

* * *

The day seemed to drag on slowly, until it was time for her favorite time of day: lunch.

She grabbed a tray of lunch and looked around for a place to sit, but it seemed like everywhere was full or she had a few people glare at her for daring to look in their direction. Well, that sucked.

It was either find her brother outside somewhere or sit next to the trash, where she was sure would gladly accept her. Maybe she'll become friends with the trash.

She made to move to the trashcan when she heard, "Hey, Juliana!"

She turned around, bracing for something to be thrown at her, but instead there was two girls that waving her over.

Maybe her luck was changing. Or they wanted to humiliate her somehow.

She walked over to the two girls, almost suspiciously.

"You can sit with us instead of hanging out with the loser trashcan," said the blonde girl.

Juliana was a little offended on behalf of the trashcan.

Maybe she really was mentally ill, if she was offended over a _trashcan._ She sat down with them.

"What did you do to piss off Tyler Lockwood?" the red haired girl asked.

"You mean besides existing?" asked Juliana.

"Not that, but anyone who can get under his skin is a friend of ours," said the blonde girl. "I'm Sydney Cooke and she's Abigail Bell."

The red-head, Abigail nodded. "Yeah."

"Wait, how come you don't like Lockwood?" asked Juliana confused.

Sydney shrugged, "He's just an ass who thinks he owns everything because his dad's the mayor." She rolled her eyes.

Abigail nodded, "Yeah."

"Enough about him," Juliana cut in. She really didn't want to talk about Lockwood. It would just stroke his ego. "Why did you want me to sit with you two? I'm a bag full of crazy."

"We heard that you want to join the volleyball team, so you're cool with us," said Sydney.

"Aren't you afraid that I'll rub off on you?" Juliana asked.

"Crazy can't be rubbed off," Abigail said. "Besides, why would we want to fit in? Standing out means you're a lot more memorable."

Juliana guessed that Abigail had a point there.

"We saw you talking to the new guy," said Sydney. "Who is he?"

"His name is Stefan Salvatore. His uncle runs the Salvatore Boarding House," said Juliana. "He has an older brother and that's all I know about him."

They ate their lunches in silence before Sydney asked, "Hey, do you want to come with us to the Mystic Grill?"

Juliana almost cringed at that, "I don't think so. I have some things to do to after school." It was mainly go to the cemetery and write a letter to her parents, but she'd rather not have them think she was crazy.

* * *

The rest of the day seemed to pass by in a blur and Juliana felt better when the bell rang. She left the school and stood on the steps waiting for Jeremy to leave. When he emerged, Juliana started to walk down the steps.

"Hey, sorry I can't walk with you, I plan on going to the Mystic Grill," Jeremy said.

Juliana sighed, _Of course_. "If you keep that up, Vicki might get a restraining order against you. Or at least, Lockwood would make her get one just to piss you off even more."

Jeremy rolled his eyes, "Are you going to the back-to-school party tonight?"

Juliana shrugged, "Probably not. That's not my scene. I better go. Don't want you to hold you up on stalking Vicki."

"I'm not stalking her," replied Jeremy.

"Yes, you are!" Juliana yelled. She attracted a few looks, and she took a deep breath and let it out. She didn't want to have an argument with her brother in front of the school. "She's dating the biggest jerk in town and you can't accept that. You plan on going where she works just to see her and flirt with her. You can't accept the choice she made. Therefore the only thing you can do is stalk her because she doesn't want you anymore. That's not love, that's obsession. I am not going to stand in your way of stalking. And if you get in trouble for it, then you deserve it."

During her tirade a wind had picked up, and Juliana turned and walked away from her brother.

* * *

Juliana was halfway home when she stopped to calm down. She started feeling guilty about snapping at Jeremy like she had, especially in front of almost the whole school, but she was just angry at how her brother was ditching her for a former lay and to stalk said former lay.

She knew that she and Jeremy needed space away from each other, being twins and all, but it still hurt a lot. Maybe she was too immature for her own family.

"Juliana!" a voice called.

Juliana turned and looked around, but she didn't see anyone. She turned back around and nearly ran into Damon, who was holding a paper bag.

"What the hell, Damon?" replied Juliana. "Why do you do that?"

Damon seemed amused, "I saw you walking alone and assumed that your brother decided to ditch you."

"He has…other things to tend to," responded Juliana.

"Something girl related?" asked Damon.

Juliana flatly said, "Something like that." She looked at the bag that Damon was holding. "I see you bought some things, don't let me hold you up with that."

Damon looked at the bag and held it out to Juliana, "Actually this is for you. It was originally Adrienne's and I figured that you would have a better use for it."

Juliana took the bag and looked in it. She took out a red leather [journal](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f9/e9/f2/f9e9f2d5287fbf1991fd8efab6fbca7d.jpg) with an embroidered heart on the cover. It looked like it had been kept in very pristine condition. She opened the cover.

**This Journal Belongs To**

**Adrienne Ainsley**

"You're giving me her diary?" asked Juliana stunned. "I'm not reading her secrets." She put the journal in the bag and held back to Damon, who didn't take it.

"I think you should really look at it," said Damon.

Juliana sighed and took the journal back out. She turned to the first page and looked at it.

_ **Telekinesis** _

_**Telekinesis is the ability to move things with one's mind. Using one's hands is the most used method.** _

Juliana looked at it and looked at the page. There was something about controlling the four elements and she turned the page again.

_**Pain Reduction Spell** _

_**This simply reduces pain and it does not heal anyone. It is very easy to use.** _

On the other page there was:

_**Liquid Gathering Spell** _

_**This spell gathers liquid, such as blood droplets in a small bowl.** _

Juliana looked at Damon confused. "Why did you give me this?"

Damon smiled, "Adrienna was a witch and I'm giving you her grimoire."

Adrienne felt her face pale. Stefan did say that Adrienne had vanished, as if by…but a witch?

"Every witch needs a grimoire after all, so I'm giving you hers. You need to start somewhere. I believe that Adrienne would love for you to have it," Damon said. "You know, as one witch indirectly helping out another. I have to go." He turned and walked away, leaving Juliana with more questions than answers.

* * *

Juliana walked in the door when she got home.

"Hi, Juliana, glad to see that your home," said Aunt Jenna.

Juliana smiled back at her, "How did you thesis thing go?"

"I think it went well, but they weren't happy that I was late," said Aunt Jenna.

Elena walked in, "Hey, excuse me. I have to go to the bathroom."

Juliana stepped aside as Elena went upstairs.

Juliana went to the living room.

"Hang on, Lia," said Aunt Jenna. "Don't you have homework to do?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Don't you think you have to do it?" asked Aunt Jenna.

"Yes, but I don't want to," said Juliana.

"Where's Jeremy?" asked Aunt Jenna, finally noticing something was off.

"He went to the grill," replied Juliana.

The doorbell rang and Juliana frowned. She hoped that it wasn't Damon, so she got up and opened the door to see that it was Stefan.

Stefan seemed surprised, "Hi…Juliana, was it?"

Juliana nodded, "Yeah. No offense, why are you here?"

"You're Elena's younger sister, right?" said Stefan.

"Yes," replied Juliana slowly.

Elena was at the door, "Who is it?" She saw Stefan. "Hi."

"I wanted to apologize for my disappearing act earlier," said Stefan.

Juliana was frowning, "How do you know where we live?"

"It's a small town, so I asked a few people," said Stefan.

Juliana nodded and took that as her cue to leave her sister to her…whatever she passes off as flirting. She also rather not be third-wheeling that conversation. She went to her room and took out her books. She set them on her desk and looked at Adrienne's journal…no _grimoire._

Damon had given it to her for a reason. He believed that she was a witch. Adrienne was apparently a witch.

And Damon believed she was.

That was a lot more relieving than she wanted to admit.

She picked up the grimoire and opened it to the telekinesis page. She heard the downstairs door close, so she guessed that either Elena or Stefan left, or both.

She looked at the page to continue reading:

_**Telekinesis is most-commonly used nonverbally, but it can be used with the word 'motus'. It requires the most concentration. It is best to start off small before moving on to something bigger to use.** _

Juliana looked for something to use and noticed a pen that was on her desk.

She looked at pen and held out her hand, imagining the pen coming to her. She motioned for the pen to come to her. It didn't work.

" _Motus_ ," she whispered and waved for the pen to come over.

It flew and hit her right in the face. It was a start.

It was her first display of magic!

She actually _did_ magic!

The door burst open and Jeremy was standing there. He looked worried.

Juliana was surprised to see him. "Hey, I could've been changing."

"Vicki told me that he saw you talking a creepy older man and that he gave you something," Jeremy said. He looked at the journal that Juliana was holding. "Did he give you that?" He went over and grabbed it. He looked at it and his frown seemed to deepen.

Juliana looked at the grimoire and willed it to come back to her.

It responded because it flew out of Jeremy's hands and flew right back into Juliana's.

She didn't even know who was more shocked: her or Jeremy.

"What the hell was that!" exclaimed Jeremy.

Juliana felt near tears, well, things were going to go to hell because of her.

Aunt Jenna called, "Is everything okay up there?"

"Yeah, everything's fine! Lia just showed me a video!" Jeremy lied effortlessly. He closed the door. He turned to Juliana, "Do that again!"

Juliana grinned and looked at her desk chair. She moved her hand and the chair moved up in the air and then fell with a clatter when Juliana lowered her hand. She heard footsteps on the stairs and she ran over and sat down in the chair.

Jeremy started spinning the chair when there was knock on the door.

Aunt Jenna opened the door and asked, "What in the world is going on in here?"

"We're just playing," the twins said at the same time.

Aunt Jenna frowned, "Well, be careful. That sounded like it hurt a lot."

"It did," replied Juliana.

Aunt Jenna nodded, "I don't want to take any of you to the hospital."

"We'll try to be careful," said Jeremy grinning.

Aunt Jenna nodded, "I'm so glad that you two are getting along again."

"What do you mean by ' _again_ '?" asked Juliana.

"You two were avoiding each other like the plague," said Aunt Jenna. "And I'm glad that you two are hanging out with each other once again." She smiled at them and left, closing the door

Jeremy looked at Juliana, "So, that night…when we somehow escaped the car…was that really…magic?"

Juliana nodded, "I think so. I don't really know why or how I did it. I don't know anything about spell casting. The only thing so far magic-y was me using telekinesis."

Jeremy sat down on Juliana's bed and started looking through the grimoire. "Who's Adrienne Ainsley? She sounds familiar."

"I think she was a friend of the new guy, Stefan, and his brother, Damon. They both said that she was like a little sister to them. She disappeared," explained Juliana. "Damon gave it to me because Adrienne was a witch." It was strange, telling him her secrets.

"Who the hell is Damon?" asked Jeremy. "Is it that creepy guy that Vicki saw you talking to?"

"Yeah," replied Juliana. "I saw him at the cemetery a few days ago, before school started and for some reason I told him that I was a witch. He only struck up a conversation because he thought that I was Adrienne. Strange thing, though, Stefan thought I was Adrienne as well, which is why he started talking to me."

"Strange," replied Jeremy, looking down at the grimoire.

"I know," replied Juliana, "If she disappeared, why go to a high school?"

"Not that, but this spell," said Jeremy. He held it out to Juliana, "When was this book written?"

Juliana looked at the Longevity Spell. "I don't know. I assume it's been a couple of years."

Jeremy was frowning, "That's strange then. When we go to the party at the Falls—"

"We?" asked Juliana.

"You're going with me. With what you can do, you'll be fun," said Jeremy.

"I don't want to spark another witch hunt. I don't want to be either hung or burned alive, like what happened over there at the Witch Burial Grounds," said Juliana.

"That must hit pretty hard now, considering that you really are a witch," responded Jeremy.

Juliana shrugged, "A little. It was still messed up what they did to those people, though."

She took the grimoire back and looked through the pages, stopping on that apparently paralyzed people, which was to basically prevent people from moving. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" asked Jeremy.

"For snapping at you earlier and calling you a stalker," replied Juliana.

"It's okay, I think I needed to hear it," said Jeremy. "I think I really need to get over her. She did make her decision and she's with Lockwood now. I should apologize to her."

"Don't," replied Juliana. "That would make _anyone_ uncomfortable. Just…stay away from her. If not, I will set your stuff on fire."

"Just because you can do that now doesn't mean you can be a jerk to my stuff," replied Jeremy.

"Relax," replied Juliana. "I haven't even gotten that far yet. All I can do is telekinesis," replied Juliana. "You don't have to worry about a thing."

They sat in silence and Juliana said, "You know, I think that if I kept my mouth shut on my delusion of being a witch, I think our parents would be alive."

"It's not your fault," replied Jeremy. "I think if I hadn't insisted on arguing, Dad wouldn't have gotten distracted."

"Sometimes I wonder what I saw that made me yell," Juliana said. "I…I thought I saw something and just screamed. Why were you giving me weird looks lately?"

"I thought you knew something about the accident and I wanted to ask you," replied Jeremy. "I guess it was a lot stranger than I thought. Who would've thought that _magic_ saved our lives? I just wonder why it saved us and not our parents."

"I wonder that too," replied Juliana.

"You know maybe we should skip the party and just hang out here. Maybe watch a couple of horror movies or your _Alice in Wonderland_ movie," Jeremy said. He looked at the grimoire, "Or I can help you practice your magic, or both."

Juliana smiled, "We can do both."


	4. The Comet Passes

Things were strange now that Jeremy seemed set on helping Juliana with her magic. She had thought it was something that she would have to do alone, but she guessed that she was wrong.

The door burst open and Elena walked in. She sniffed and coughed a little, "Who burnt the popcorn?"

Juliana looked down at the pieces of popcorn that Jeremy told her to light on fire. She said, "Sorry?"

Elena looked at them and looked at Jeremy, "I didn't see you at the party."

Jeremy shrugged, "Something more interesting came up." He glanced at Juliana as he said that.

Well, discovering that your sister really was a witch was probably a lot more interesting than drinking.

"Vicki is in the hospital, by the way," said Elena causally.

Jeremy stood up; almost dropping the bowl of popcorn he was holding. "What happened?"

"Something bit her on the neck," said Elena. "She was losing a lot of blood."

Juliana frowned at that, "That's weird."

"Did she say what hurt her?" asked Jeremy worried.

"No," said Elena.

* * *

The next day, Juliana got dressed and gathered her books for school. She considered leaving the grimoire behind, but decided to take it with her. It just felt like it was a part of her now. She got dressed and tried to braid her hair, but decided to do a small braid and bobby-pin it like she had did the previous day.

Elena swung by to put eyeliner on her, but showed her how to do it, so she didn't have to do it all the time. In a way, that kind of hurt, since Juliana enjoyed it, since it felt more like sisterly bonding.

"Maybe you should try wearing lip-gloss," said Elena, after she finished showing Juliana how to put eyeliner on.

"You're going nowhere near my mouth with any of that stuff," Juliana replied. She was content with the eyeliner and it was going to stay that way.

"Soon then," said Elena.

"Yeah," replied Juliana slowly.

Elena smiled and stepped outside into the hallway.

"Do I look adult?" asked Aunt Jenna.

Juliana looked at her aunt, "You are an adult, though."

"Yeah, but I mean respectfully parental," said Aunt Jenna.

"You are parental," replied Juliana, "but more like laid-back."

"Thank you for trying, Lia," replied Aunt Jenna.

"That's what I'm here for," replied Juliana and went into the kitchen to get some cereal. She saw that Jeremy was in there and she sighed, "You're going to see her, aren't you?"

"I'm just worried, is that a crime?" demanded Jeremy.

"Go see her, but just this once, okay?" said Juliana.

"Yeah, okay," replied Jeremy. "I told Aunt Jenna I wanted to finish making a birdhouse in woodshop."

"There's no woodshop class there," replied Juliana confused.

Jeremy left anyway.

Juliana rolled her eyes; looks like she'll be walking to school alone again.

* * *

Juliana walked down the side and got a block away when she noticed that Damon pulled up to her, like the day before.

"Need a ride?" asked Damon.

Juliana got in with him. He took off before Juliana can buckle her seatbelt. "Thank you for the grimoire. It was very helpful."

Damon seemed to smile, "That's good to hear. Adrienne would be pleased to know that I helped."

"Who was she anyway?" asked Juliana.

"She's a close friend of Stefan and mine. She's more like a little sister to us," said Damon. "One day, she just left."

"She vanished, as if by magic," replied Juliana.

"Something like that," said Damon. "It's very complicated."

"What happened?" asked Juliana.

"Stefan and I started arguing over a girl, her name is Katherine. Adrienne and Katherine were like sisters, Adrienne got upset and started messing with dark magic. That's a big no for witches, so Adrienne vanished. Stefan, Katherine, and I assumed she realized that she shouldn't and just ran away. We were looking for Adrienne; Stefan and I, I mean," said Damon.

Juliana had a funny feeling that there was a lot more to the story than that. It didn't make sense, turning to dark magic because some idiots were fighting over a girl? That was a lot more information than she got. "Okay. I guess I can try to help by tracking her. I think I saw a spell that was about locating someone."

"Okay," said Damon. "I'll have to talk to Stefan about it and see if he has anything of hers that might help. Let me guess, Jeremy ditched you again?"

"Yeah," said Juliana. "He's visiting his…ex-lay in the hospital. She got bitten by something last night and lost a lot of blood."

"I see," replied Damon. "Well, we're here. Have a good day at school."

Juliana got out, "Thanks, you too." She got half-way up the steps before she realized what she had said to Damon.

When she got inside the school, she felt someone grab onto her arm. She turned to yell at them for daring to touch without permission and saw that it was just Stefan.

"Juliana, I'll walk you to your locker," said Stefan.

Slowly, Juliana said, "Okay."

Stefan kept a hold on her arm as they walked down the hallway. "I saw you talking to my brother. What did he want?"

"He was just talking to me about Adrienne and Katherine," replied Juliana.

Stefan seemed to stiffen and in a low voice he said, "Did he now?"

"Yes, he said that because you and he were fighting over Katherine, Adrienne turned to dark magic and vanished," replied Juliana.

"That's some of it," replied Stefan, looking vaguely uncomfortable. "Did he give you Adrienne's grimoire?"

"Yes, I have it. Do you want it back?" asked Juliana a little fearfully.

"No, keep it. Adrienne would've wanted you to have it," replied Stefan. "He made a right choice on that aspect." He sounded bitter.

"Right," replied Juliana, a little put off. "I told him that I'll try to help locate Adrienne, since she means a lot to the both of you. He said that he'll talk to you about getting a few of her things, so don't be surprised by it."

"Right, got it," replied Stefan. "By the way, what kind of classic books Elena like?"

"Do you mean classics like _Goosebumps_ and _Harry Potter_?" asked Juliene.

"I mean like _Wuthering_ _Heights_ ," said Stefan.

"Oh, she loves those books, but I don't think books like that are romantic in general," said Juliana. "I read it once and I found Cathy and Heath to be really horrible people, who made everyone around them so miserable that it got to the point that they rejoiced when both of them died."

"What books do you think is romantic?" asked Stefan.

"Trust me, I hate romance books, I read horror," said Juliana. "You're trying to impress my sister, not me."

"Stefan, hi," said Elena, giving Stefan a smile.

Juliana almost threw herself in her locker. Where the hell did she come from?

"Hi, Elena, I was just talking to your sister about the comet that's passing by tomorrow," said Stefan.

Even Juliana was impressed by how smooth that came from him.

"She's a very great conversationalist," Stefan continued.

"Yeah, she does have that ability to keep people locked in a conversation," said Elena with a faint smile.

The two walked off and Juliana almost shook her head. Well, that was somewhat interesting.

* * *

After science, someone grabbed Juliana's backpack. Juliana snapped, "Hey, let go of me douche—" She saw that it was Jeremy, "Sorry."

"Whatever, douchebag," replied Jeremy, but there wasn't any malice behind it.

"How is Vicki doing?" asked Juliana.

"She's resting," said Jeremy. "Lockwood didn't go see her."

"Yet," Juliana replied, "The day's not over yet. There's plenty of time."

"At lunch, meet me by the bleachers," said Jeremy. "There's something I want to tell you."

"Okay, but don't do anything to Lockwood. He just wants to get a rise out of you," said Juliana. "Don't feed that to him."

"All right," said Jeremy. With that they went separate ways. What did he want to talk to her about that couldn't be said in the hallway? Unless he wanted to see her use magic some more, but it was still weird.

"Hey, Lia," called a voice.

Juliana turned around trying to find the source and saw that it was Bonnie, "Oh, hey, Bonnie."

Bonnie looked very excited, "I've been meaning to talk to you for a few days, but I couldn't manage to find time for it."

"What is it?" asked Juliana, almost a little warily.

"Grams says that I'm a witch," said Bonnie.

"Oh," replied Juliana, almost a little to stupidly for her liking.

"Yeah, she says that my ancestors were some of those cool Salem witch chicks," said Bonnie. "But she was kind of on some liquor at the time, so I tuned her out."

"If you don't believe her, why are you so happy about it?" asked Juliana.

"I think it's interesting," said Bonnie. "She also mentioned you."

"She did?" replied Juliana confused.

"Yeah, she said that she wants to talk to you," said Bonnie.

"I guess I'll swing by sometime after school," said Juliana.

Bonnie nodded, "Sure. If by any chance that I'm a witch, and since you think that you're one, maybe we can form some sort of witch's coven." She sounded like she was joking at that.

Juliana nodded and replied slowly, "Sure."

Bonnie seemed to brighten, "See you around, Lia."

"You too, Bonnie," replied Juliana and they went separate ways again.

This day just kept getting weirder.

* * *

At lunch, Juliana apologized to Sydney and Abigail for not being able to sit with them, since her brother had something to talk over. They understood and left her go.

So, she headed over to the bleachers with a package of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a carton of reheated French fries, and a carton of chocolate milk. Jeremy was there already.

Juliana grimaced at the smell of weed, but pushed through it. She sat down next to Jeremy, setting her backpack beside her.

"What is it?" asked Juliana.

Jeremy looked through his backpack and took out a few papers. He passed one to Juliana. "Sometimes I look up random things when I'm high," said Jeremy. "I forgot, but that name sounded familiar and I looked it up. It took a while, but I finally found what I was looking for."

Juliana looked at the paper, which was a print out of some kind of news article. The headline read:

GIRL STILL MISSING

Juliana read the news article as she ate some fries. It boiled down to how a seventeen-year-old girl named Adrienne Ainsley had disappeared two days prior.

"So she really did disappear," said Juliana. She offered the fries to Jeremy but he declined.

"Yeah, but that girl disappeared in seventeen-ninety," Jeremy pointed out, before he took out another piece of paper. "There's this other news article that included a picture, it really caught me off guard."

"What was it?" asked Juliana.

Jeremy handed her the paper and Juliana looked at the grainy black-and-white picture of…herself?

"Huh?" replied Juliana. It had to have been a police drawing of someone else. It couldn't be her.

"Here's a family picture, apparently," said Jeremy handing her another painting. She took it and looked at the picture. There were a few people that she didn't recognize but there was a girl there that looked a little older, but the girl obviously had her face.

"But how…? They were phrasing it like she had recently gone missing," said Juliana stunned. "I mean, they're here, obviously. It just doesn't make sense. None of this does."

"Unless this Adrienne chick had a child out of wedlock and somewhere along the way, this girl, Adrienne Ainsley, was born in this century or some weird crap," said Jeremy.

"That makes sense, in a weird way," said Juliana, "but that doesn't explain why they confused me for her."

"There are look-alikes out there," said Jeremy. "Don't take to much stock in it. It'll just give me a headache."

Juliana nodded, "Right. It's just so confusing, though."

Jeremy shrugged, "Possibly. The only thing I can think of is that this Adrienne girl had a kid who married into our family and we're her descendants. Or that you're a look-alike to this Adrienne, who's ancestor is Adrienne Ainsley."

"Most likely a look-alike then," said Juliana. "The thought of having an ancestor that disappeared and we don't even know about it…"

"Do people really care about what happens to relatives that happened in the seventeen-hundreds?" asked Jeremy. "It's been more than two hundred years. If you find answers, nothing's ever going to come out of it."

Juliana sighed, "I know. This is just so…complicated."

"I suppose," said Jeremy.

Juliana had a crap load more questions to ask Damon and Stefan.

* * *

History was going to be hell, Juliana realized. That was the one class that she was dreading. Of course it didn't help that it was taught by Mr. Tanner, the meanest teacher in the school. She wasn't sure who the worst was: Lockwood or Tanner.

Lockwood had the not-so-justification of being a teenager, but Tanner had no reason to make students feel bad since he was a teacher.

When Juliana walked in, she noticed a boy with curly, shoulder-length blond hair.

 _You will be mine,_ was Juliana's first thought when she looked at him. She walked over and sat down at her desk, slightly glad that he was sitting in the desk next to her. Unfortunately, Mr. Tanner had placed her in the front to keep an eye on her, because her brother was apparently ditching and her sister was busy flirting with Stefan.

When the bell rang, Mr. Tanner took roll call and called for Juliana's name.

"Present," replied Juliana.

"I see that you, unlike your brother, bothered to show up," said Mr. Tanner.

Juliana felt a little embarrassed at that and had to bite back, " _And you, unlike my other teachers, are a jackass._ "

"Let's hope that Jeremy doesn't…rub off on you," said Mr. Tanner, eyeing Juliana.

She had a feeling that he saw her hanging out at the bleachers with Jeremy during lunch and now he probably thought that she was smoking pot with him.

A few more names were called, and Mr. Tanner called, "Holloway, Corey."

"Present," said the boy that was beside Juliana.

"I see that you bothered to show up, this time," said Mr. Tanner.

"I was in the hospital," said Corey.

"For what?" replied Mr. Tanner, obviously not believing him.

"I had leukemia," said Corey. "They thought it came back, but obviously it didn't."

Mr. Tanner surprisingly stayed silent on the matter and continued with the roll call. After that, he started talking about the comet that was supposed to fly by.

When he had his back turned, a crumpled up ball of paper flew and hit her. It bounced off of her head and rolled over, right next to Corey.

Juliana didn't have to look to know what was written inside of it. She still remembered getting those paper balls thrown at her in middle school and seeing all kinds of harsh words written on them.

It was obvious that some things never changed in high school. College was going to be a different matter all together. Hopefully people would be kinder in college.

She watched as Corey picked up the paper ball and unraveled it. He read it and looked at her questioningly.

Juliana shrugged in response, hoping that he got the message that she was used to it. She looked back at Mr. Tanner. She heard Corey crinkling up the paper.

After class was over, Juliana packed up and headed to her art class. She was surprised that Corey tagged along.

"Do people really call you a nut job?" asked Corey.

As if to answer his question, a person walked into Juliana and the girl said, "Get out of my way, basket case." The girl hurried on.

"You ran into me!" called Juliana.

"Why are you a 'nut job?'" asked Corey. His tone implied that he didn't believe it.

"I claimed that I was a witch when I'm not." Juliana said, "And I almost burnt down a barn, so that obviously didn't help."

Corey smiled, "Beautiful and deadly. That's either a wonderful mix or a dangerous mix."

Juliana never considered herself the type of girl to blush at a compliment, but she did. In a way, she found it unnatural and it kind of bothered her knowing that this guy, who she didn't even _know,_ was causing this reaction.

"Hey, you love Slipknot?" asked Corey, looking at Juliana's binder. She glanced at her binder. She had a picture of the band in there, along with a picture of her parents.

"Yeah, I do," said Juliana.

"Maybe after school we can listen to them together," said Corey.

"I would love to, but I have people to see after school," said Juliana. She really did regret it.

"Maybe some other time, then," said Corey.

"Yeah," Juliana replied, "some other time."

* * *

After school, Stefan had handed Juliana a note, telling her to swing by the Salvatore Boarding House around five so she can get a few of Adrienne's belongings to track her. The thing was that she didn't know how to use the spell. She hoped that they didn't expect her to do it at that very moment.

Juliana was surprised when Jeremy actually walked home with her. He had grumbled something and that he could help her practice her magic when they get home. Damon had passed by, honking and waving at her as he did so. Jeremy didn't like Damon, which he made clear, because why the hell does an older guy willingly hang out with an obviously teenage girl. To be honest, Juliana wasn't sure either.

* * *

After trying the fire lighting spell, which didn't turn out so well when a pillow had caught on fire and Jeremy had to put it out with a glass of water.

When Juliana noticed the time, she stood up. "I should get going to the boarding house."

"I'll go with you," said Jeremy. "I really don't like the idea of you going to this guy's home alone. That's a recipe for you getting…" He trailed off.

Juliana had a feeling she knew what was going to say. She nodded, "Right."

"Even if you can snap a guy's neck with your mind," said Jeremy.

When they got downstairs, Aunt Jenna was there. Elena had taken off to the Grill.

"Hey, I picked up dinner," said Aunt Jenna.

Juliana walked over, "What did you get?"

"Tacos," said Aunt Jenna. "I had an urge for guacamole."

"No, I'm good, thanks," said Jeremy.

Juliana walked over and looked in the bag.

"Eat anyway, it's a ruse," said Aunt Jenna. "I want to talk."

Juliana took some tacos, "Did you get salsa for these?"

"Yes, Lia," said Aunt Jenna. She passed two small containers to her.

"I'll meet you there," said Juliana leaving.

Jeremy looked like he really didn't like the idea of her going alone, but he allowed her to go.

* * *

Juliana was surprised when she saw Elena walking up to the door.

"Lia, what are you doing here?" asked Elena.

"I was going to pick up something that Stefan got for me," said Juliana. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"I was going to tell Stefan something," said Elena. She knocked on the door and it opened.

Juliana blinked and Elena went to walk inside, but she grabbed her older sister's arm. Juliana asked, "What are you doing?"

Elena looked at her, "I'm going inside."

"That's rude. Just pull the door close and knock again," said Juliana.

"Its fine," said Elena.

"That's how people get killed in horror movies," said Juliana.

Elena just walked in anyway.

"That's not an invitation!" yelled Juliana. She didn't understand why people did that on TV. She walked in after Elena, uneasily. "Elena, let's go. This isn't right."

Elena ignored her in favor of walking farther into the house.

It was dark inside, but it looked nicer, compared to their house. It wasn't even five-thirty yet.

It looked like the back door was wide open, so Juliana guessed that Stefan was out back doing some housework.

A crow flew at them and Juliana shrieked in surprise. She turned to look and was surprised to see that Damon was now standing very uncomfortably close to Elena.

Elena looked breathless, "We're sorry for barging in. The door was…open."

"You must be Elena," said Damon. "Juliana told me about you."

"Funny, Lia didn't tell me that's she knows you," Elena said.

"I'm Damon, Stefan's brother," said Damon.

"He didn't tell me he had a brother," said Elena.

"Strange, Juliana knows that part," said Damon. "I guess she forgot to tell you that, too." He seemed way too amused at this to be healthy.

Elena looked at Juliana, who shrugged.

"I'm sure that Stefan will be along any second," said Damon.

"Where is he anyway?" asked Juliana.

"He's out back chasing bunnies," said Damon, looking very amused by that.

"Should I go get him?" asked Juliana. "He said he was going to get me something."

Oddly, Damon seemed to soften a little, "I wouldn't. I'd rather you not see something that you don't want to see. Come on." He led them to what Juliana figured was the living room.

"Wow, is this your living room?" asked Elena.

"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction," said Damon. "It's a little kitschy for my taste." He looked at Elena, "I see why my brother's so smitten. It's about time. For a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

"You said that you were fighting for her too," said Juliana.

"Yeah, there's that," replied Damon.

"Wait. What last one?" asked Elena. She looked at Juliana.

"Yeah, Katherine, his girlfriend?" replied Damon.

"That you were fighting him for," Juliana added.

"Well, she chose him, so," said Damon. He looked at Elena. "Oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."

Elena was looking bewildered, obviously trying to figure how Juliana and Damon knew each other. "Nope, but how do you two know each other?"

"We met in the cemetery," said Damon. "You know town basket cases hang out in cemeteries."

Elena looked a little horrified.

"Don't worry, Juliana reminds me a lot of someone who was like a little sister to me and Stefan," said Damon. He looked over Juliana's head, "Hello, Stefan."

Juliana turned around to see Stefan, who was holding a small paper bag. How the hell were these people so quiet?

"Elena," greeted Stefan, smiling in a sort of forced way. "I didn't know that you were coming over. I wasn't expecting Juliana to bring you here."

"I didn't know that she was coming here," said Elena. "I should have called, I just…"

"Oh, don't be silly. You're both welcome here any time," said Damon. "Aren't they, Stefan? You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But…I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker."

"Thank you for stopping by, Elena. It was nice to see you," said Stefan. He went over and handed Juliana the paper bag.

"Great meeting you, too, Elena," said Damon. He kissed Elena's hand and put Juliana in a very loose head lock and rubbed the top of her head with his knuckles, "Thanks for stopping by, Juliana. I hope that you got what you need."

Juliana managed to pull out of Damon's arms.

"She does, Damon," Stefan said a little harshly.

"Bye," replied Juliana, pushing Elena out the door.

Elena closed the door behind them, "What did you get?"

Juliana opened the bag and looked in. "Just some rings, a bracelet, and a map."

"Why did he give you that?" asked Elena.

"I'm…helping him and Damon with something regarding Adrienne," said Juliana.

"Adrienne?" asked Elena.

"The girl that's like their little sister," said Juliana.

"Oh," said Elena.

"Come on, I have a lot to tell you," said Juliana.

Needless to say, Elena was shocked that Juliana was a witch. Of course Juliana had to use telekinesis to make a point.

But Juliana felt bad that she couldn't be able to talk to Bonnie's grandmother yet.

* * *

It was the next day and Juliana still didn't perform the locating spell. Jeremy dragged her down to the Mystic Grill just to get her out of the house. In Jeremy's words, she was being a recluse by hiding out at home.

He was looking at the grimoire. Juliana was sure that he spent more time with it than she did.

"Have you been giving away my pills by any chance?" asked Juliana.

"Yes, but you don't need those anymore. You never did," said Jeremy. "Why do you still keep taking them?"

Juliana shrugged, "Habits die hard."

"That's what I told Aunt Jenna yesterday," said Jeremy.

"What did she want to talk to you about?" asked Juliana.

"About how she used to smoke pot in school," said Jeremy.

Juliana was surprised about that, "She did?"

"Yeah," said Jeremy. The door opened and Juliana looked to see Vicki walking in.

Jeremy looked and quickly ducked his head, muttering 'crap' under his breath. To make matters worse, Lockwood was there too.

"If you know a disappearing spell, that would be great to use on me," said Jeremy.

Juliana flipped through it, but then a shadow fell over the grimoire and she slammed it shut. She looked at Vicki, "Hi, Vicki. How are you doing?"

"Better, but I was hoping to talk to Jeremy," said Vicki.

"Oh, okay," replied Juliana. Vicki gave her a pointed look. Juliana didn't get it for a moment, and it dawned on her, " _Oh,_ okay." Juliana grabbed their cups of soda and went to the bar for a refill. She didn't want to leave him alone with her, but maybe he needs closure to move on.

Matt was happy to get the refills for her, and Juliana watched until a hand slammed down right beside her.

Juliana almost flinched and she turned to look at Lockwood. "Hello, Richard, what are you up to?"

"Tell your junkie brother to leave _my_ girlfriend alone," snarled Lockwood.

Juliana looked at Lockwood, "She went up to him, willingly, Richard. So how about you leave me and my brother alone before I do horrible things to you?"

Lockwood seemed to take that as a challenge and got uncomfortably close to her face. He seemed to smirk, "What type of horrible things, nut case?"

"Ty, get out of Lia's face," Matt ORDERED, placing two glasses on the table.

Lockwood, surprisingly, backed off, and skulked off.

Juliana looked at Lockwood and yelled, "How have you not been murdered yet?"

Lockwood gave Juliana a nice view of his middle finger.

Before Juliana could grab the glasses, Matt held onto them, "What is going on with Elena and that Stefan guy?"

Juliana almost groaned, "Listen here, she dumped you, move on. You're in high-school, there's still plenty of goddamn time in your life. You have what…eighty years to live? Move on pal. Don't be tied down to just _one_ girl." She took the glasses and went to the table, where Vicki was now leaving.

"Hi, Lia," said Vicki.

Juliana mumbled something that she was sure didn't even sound like a language.

"What did Lockwood say to you?" asked Jeremy, glaring at Lockwood.

Juliana shrugged, "Made some vague threats about you leaving Vicki alone. I threatened him to leave you alone and he was apparently thinking with his other brain. What did Vicki what?"

"She wanted to know why I visited her just the one time, which apparently surprised her and some other things. Apparently Lockwood never even visited her and Matt was hanging around a lot."

"Well, Matt is her brother and their parents don't even give a damn," said Juliana.

She looked over at Vicki and Lockwood. They were talking and Lockwood seemed to notice them looking. He glared and snarled, "What are you two freaks looking at?"

Juliana rolled her eyes, "Go suck a dick, Lockwood!"

* * *

It was in the town square that Caroline had given Juliana a candle and took off. So Juliana was standing by, feeling awkward, until Shiela walked up to her.

"Hello, Juliana," said Sheila. She was holding a lit candle.

Juliana was surprised, "I thought Bonnie was saying that you think the comet is a harbinger of doom."

"Yes, I do, but I find it very important to talk to you about your magic, Juliana," said Sheila.

Juliana started, "I was going to talk to you, but I—"

"I know how busy teenagers can be," said Sheila. "I'm raising one after all."

Juliana nodded, "Right."

"I knew that you had magic when you were just a little girl," said Sheila. "I didn't know how. But when you started getting older, I couldn't help but notice that you are turning out like Adrienne before…."

Juliana couldn't help but nearly jerk at the mention of Adrienne. "How do you know Adrienne?"

"She's over there at the Witch Burial Grounds," said Sheila. "But never mind that at the moment, you need a proper teacher."

Juliana looked at Sheila. "Are you saying that you will teach me?"

"Yes," said Sheila. "It is important for both you and Bonnie to learn."

"I think Bonnie doesn't want to be a witch," said Juliana.

"She will accept it in her own time," said Sheila. "I know that you finally started using magic, how minimal that may be."

"Well, Elena and Jeremy are kind of helping me," said Juliana.

"'Kind of' doesn't equal to teaching," said Sheila. "You need a proper teacher from an actual witch."

Juliana nodded, "Right."

"So, be at my house tomorrow, so I can teach you," said Sheila. "If Bonnie sees you actually using magic, she'll be able to accept it faster." She looked at Juliana's unlit candle and to Juliana's surprise the wick lit up. "There you go."

"Thanks," replied Juliana slowly.

"You're welcome," said Sheila and walked away.

Jeremy walked over to Juliana, "Was that Bonnie's grandmother?"

"Yeah," said Juliana. "She wants to teach me magic."

"Elena and I are teaching you now," said Jeremy.

"Well, she said I should get taught by an actual witch," said Juliana.

"Rude," muttered Jeremy.

Juliana shrugged and looked at the sky, "When the hell is thing supposed to come by again?"

"Hell if I know," said Juliana. She looked at the time on her cell phone. "Do you want to go home and watch the _Scream_ movies?"

"That'll be a hell lot more fun than sitting here on our asses waiting for a freaking ball of ice and dust to fly by," said Jeremy.

"Let's go," said Juliana. They started walking towards home and suddenly it felt like an ice-pick just rammed itself right in the middle of Juliana's forehead. She lurched and held onto a street-light with one hand.

"Lia, are you okay?" asked Jeremy, grabbing the candle that Juliana was suddenly strangling the hell out of. He blew the candle out and touched Julian's shoulder.

"Hey, have you two seen Vicki?" asked Matt, coming up. He was looking concerned.

"I thought I saw her heading towards the Grill," said Juliana, rubbing her forehead. The pain seemed to turning into a vicious migraine, making her feel nauseated.

"Thanks, Lia," said Matt continuing on.

"That was weird, right?" asked Juliana.

"Not as weird as whatever happened to it," said Jeremy. "Come on, let's get you home."

Juliana nodded as her whole body started tingling. She had the strange feeling that she had experienced it before.

* * *

When they got inside the house, Juliana started feeling a lot better. Aunt Jenna looked in from the top of the staircase.

Aunt Jenna hurried down the stairs and helped led Juliana to the couch.

"What happened?" asked Aunt Jenna.

"I don't know. We were walking home to watch _Scream_ to wait for the comet to come closer and Juliana just got sick or something," said Jeremy. "She looked like she was in pain."

Aunt Jenna felt Juliana's forehead, "Cramps?"

Jeremy grimaced and Juliana shook her head, but it made the pain in her head worse.

"Well, I think whatever it was is slowly going away," said Aunt Jenna. "Do you want some soup? I can warm you up a can."

"I think that might help," said Juliana.

Aunt Jenna went to the kitchen.

"I'll set up the movies," said Jeremy, moving to the DVD player.

Juliana got a text message and she looked at it. Elena was asking if she knew where Jeremy was so she replied that she was with him back home. She figured it had something to do with Vicki going missing. She still had a migraine though and rubbed her temples.

"Hey, do you want aspirin?" asked Jeremy.

"Yeah, that might help with this migraine," said Juliana.

Jeremy got up and walked away. Aunt Jenna came in holding a bowl of soup and a cup of milk.

"Where did Jeremy go?" asked Aunt Jenna, setting the bowl and cup on the coffee table.

"He went to get me some aspirin for me," said Juliana settling in front of the coffee table.

"You should talk to him about his habits," said Aunt Jenna. "At this rate, it seems like you're the one that can get through to him."

"What brought this on?" asked Juliana.

"Your ass-hat of a History teacher shamed me good yesterday," said Aunt Jenna.

"You got Tannered, too? I've recently been there, Elena has been there, too," said Juliana.

"Please talk to Jeremy," whispered Aunt Jenna as she went to play the movie.

"I will try, but I guarantee I'll remember," said Juliana, remembering how she promised to talk to Jeremy about getting high before school, but forgot.

Jeremy returned with a bottle of aspirin. "Here."

"Thanks, Jer," replied Juliana, opening the bottle.

* * *

Elena came back home a few hours later, she looked at Jeremy and Juliana, who were still sitting on the couch.

"Why are you giving Vicki pills, Jeremy?" demanded Elena.

"I told her that I wasn't giving her anymore, earlier," said Jeremy.

Elena said, "Tyler told me—"

"Of course it was him," said Juliana.

Elena looked at Juliana, "And how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling better now," said Juliana.

"Was it a…witch thing?" asked Elena faltering on the word 'witch'.

Juliana shrugged, "Don't know. Did Matt find Vicki?"

"He came up to us in the square asking if we saw her," clarified Jeremy.

"Stefan did. He found her wandering around," said Elena. "But don't think that this conversation of your habits is over."

Jeremy looked agitated, "You and Jenna, between the two of you. Enough already! The only one that hasn't been hounding me about it, is Lia."

"We can stop if you want. Send you to a therapist where you'll be forced to deal with it or to rehab where you'll sit in a group and tell some strange how you let your life fall apart."

Juliana got up, "That's not a terrible thing you know. Getting help is not terrible. I'm all for therapy or rehab. At least he'll be surrounded by people that knows what it feels like. I sat in a group of teens that were far off worse than I was. All I had was delusions and had bullying under my belt, and surprisingly they told me that what I was going was terrible too and made me feel me better since some of them was bullied too. And if that's what he needs, then so be it. Don't talk to him like it's a terrible thing to talk to strangers about or feelings.

"It actually helped me feel better knowing that some of these strangers were nodding like, ' _Same, same_ ' when I was talking about my bullying problem. There will be people there with no judgement, no condescending, nothing like that, if that's what you're thinking about. So no more of that 'anti-therapy' bull-crap, Elena. And if Jeremy agrees to it, I'll go sit with him in the waiting room, as a sign of support which is something that he needs."

"I'll think about it, Lia," muttered Jeremy, leaving up the stairs.

Elena nodded, "You're right, Lia. I'm sorry if you took it that way. I went about this the completely wrong way. It makes sense why he's sticking to you is because you're supporting him and not being condescending about it like Aunt Jenna and me."

Juliana shrugged, "Maybe." She went to her room and saw that Aunt Jenna had opened the window was half-way and tied her blue star-patterned curtains.

She went to her backpack and grabbed the grimoire out. A crow cawed and she turned to the window to see a crow happily perched on the windowsill, _staring_ at her. It was as if the crow was concerned and was making sure she was okay. No. That was ridiculously human and sure there were animals out there that acted human, but no, that never happens here.

"Oh, no," said Juliana. "You _are_ not becoming a pet. That'll be very weird. Shoo." She waved her hands at the bird and the bird seemed to take the hint and flew away. Juliana closed the window and untied her curtains before pulling them closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If no one got it, the reason why Juliana was calling Tyler, Richard, is because Dick is a common nickname for people named Richard, so she was insulting him in a way.


	5. Thank God It's Friday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to a chapter title to be borrowed by a song title, so I used Ice Nine Kills's song, Thank God It's Friday, which is a song inspired by Friday the 13th.
> 
> A Trigger Warning: Juliana gets slapped in this chapter.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_I'm sorry I haven't been by in a few days. I hope you don't mind._

_Jeremy agreed to seek out therapy, as long as I wait for him in the waiting room. He says he won't guarantee any changes, but I told him it'll take time to start healing, however slowly it may take. He told me that since he's doing this for me, I should stop taking my medication since I don't need it anymore. I agreed._

_Aunt Jenna and Elena are surprised by Jeremy agreeing to go to therapy. It's a start._

_I'm also a witch. An actual witch. That's strange isn't it? I didn't even know how to do magic, but I knew that I was a witch. Weird._

_Also, apparently Bonnie's grandmother is a witch too. She promised to teach me magic. I think it's a good thing since she may know a lot more spells than what's put in Adrienne's grimoire._

_I also had a bad dream last night or this morning._

_My most hated teacher, Mr. Tanner, had been killed. He was extremely bloody and it was awful. I woke up screaming and Jeremy ran in with a lamp. It was touching that he cared._

_Aunt Jenna says I need to stop watching horror movies._

_That's the thing, isn't it?_

_I've watched them before with no problem, but now? I've been feeling off since the comet passed and I had that strange pain and migraine._

_Also, Elena started dating the new guy, Stefan. It's been, like a week or something and she's already kissing the guy?_

_Talk about quick, but that's all for now._

_Love you both,_

_Juliana_

* * *

Jeremy and Juliana were walking to school together.

"You know, I'm not entirely sure about the therapy thing now," said Jeremy.

Juliana shrugged, "You'll be fine. You're not expected to talk about your problems right away. Just talk about yourself and what you're up to."

"You're right," replied Jeremy. "I'm just trying to talk myself out of it."

When they got to the school, they sat by the ramp for wheelchair-bound people.

"Weren't you supposed to go to Bonnie's house after school?" asked Jeremy with others who gave Juliana strange looks before going back to what they were doing.

"Well, it starts at five, maybe I can see if I can cut it short," said Juliana trying to avoid the word 'therapy'. If people found out, she was sure that Jeremy would be shamed and bullied for it. She had no problem with talking about her going to therapy because it was expected for crazies, but…with Jeremy it would be different. She saw Mr. Tanner walking across the campus…

"Does it look like Mr. Tanner has blood on his clothes?" asked Juliana looking at his striped-button up shirt that actually looked bloodied.

Jeremy looked, "No. He looks like he has a stick shoved up his ass, but no blood." He looked at Juliana.

Juliana rubbed her eyes and looked at Mr. Tanner, "Must've been the light."

Jeremy gave her a strange look and looked through Juliana's owl shoulder-bag. He took out Juliana's iPod and looked at the song that had been paused on. "Is _Slipknot_ any good?"

"I think they're good," said Juliana.

Vicki came up to them.

Jeremy sounded like he sighed and Juliana forced a smile and said, "Vicki. How nice to see you. I'm glad that you're doing better."

Vicki looked like she gave Juliana a forced smile.

"I scored two tickets for the Posers on Saturday night. They're playing at the Rat," said Vicki, focusing on Jeremy.

"Are you sure that your boyfriend would be okay with that?" asked Juliana before Jeremy can even reply. "He seems very cl – protective of you, you know," she added quickly.

"I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, without his permission," said Vicki. "And if that bothers him, then he can suck it up."

"Not when he wants to punch my brother in the face every time you both get within six feet of each other," said Juliana. "At the Grill, he basically threatened me to keep Jeremy away from you."

"Well, maybe I can ask Matt to keep him occupied then," said Vicki. "I want to hang with my _friend_."

"Maybe," replied Jeremy. "I have to see about some things and see if I have time to go."

Vicki handed a ticket to Jeremy and left.

Juliana stared after her and then looked at Jeremy. "Let's hope that this doesn't bite you in the ass later on down the line."

"Me too," said Jeremy. "Why is that when I'm actually trying to avoid her, she keeps coming to me?"

"Like she said, she thinks of you as a friend and wants to hang," said Juliana. "Just because you two had broken up doesn't mean that you can't be friends. Nothing more, though."

"I get it, Lia," said Jeremy. "Shouldn't there some volleyball try-out soon?"

"That's on the ninth of October," said Juliana. "Tomorrow, we should watch _Friday the 13_ _th_ , that'll be interesting."

"That's because tomorrow's Friday," said Jeremy, "but sure."

* * *

Cooking class was interesting. They made something basic like cookies. When she found Jeremy and Elena in the hallway, she gave some to them. They seemed to be happy about that.

It was at lunch when something somewhat interesting happened. Apparently Corey was friends with Abigail and Sydney.

"We didn't see you at the square yesterday," said Sydney.

"I got sick," said Juliana. "Don't know what it was but I felt like I was going to throw up."

"Can we not talk about throwing up when we're eating?" asked Abigail holding a fry.

Sydney nodded, "Yeah."

"I hope that you're feeling better," said Corey.

"I am," said Juliana, a little touched that he cared about her.

"Who is that guy that we see you talking too?" asked Abigail.

Juliana frowned, "I talk to a lot of people."

"The cute guy in the black jacket," said Sydney. "We saw you talking to him in the hallway and you gave him something."

"You mean my brother?" asked Juliana.

"Oh," replied Sydney, her face turned red.

"He's my twin brother if that helps," said Juliana almost amused.

" _Oh_ ," said Sydney a little more loudly.

"Don't worry," said Juliana. "I'm not mad or anything. It's all right if you think my brother is cute."

"Where is he anyway?" asked Abigail.

"He's probably busy trying to catch up on some schoolwork or detention that he got from missing classes," said Juliana. She hoped that it was true. But then again, going to therapy doesn't equal quitting drugs. He said he would go to therapy not rehab. But…they had to take one step at a time.

"Troubled and cute," Sydney mused. "A perfect blend."

Corey and Juliana looked at each other.

"Hey, what's with the pink butterfly ring? It kind of ruins your Goth appearance," said Abigail looking at the ring that Juliana was wearing.

Juliana looked at it and shrugged, "It was something that my dad gave me when I was eleven. I didn't wear it, but since…" She trailed off. "It makes me feel closer to him." She didn't add that also wore it as an apology to him for not wearing it when he gave it to her.

* * *

It was during history when Juliana felt like _hated_ Mr. Tanner even more than usual, which is a surprise since she thought it wasn't possible. She was sure that she hated Mr. Tanner even more than Lockwood, which was a surprise to even her.

When she had walked into class, Mr. Tanner had to immediately 'Tanner' her by saying, "Well, this is a surprise. Your brother actually showed up to his classes. I thought you both decided to swap positions and you won't even show up. But here you are. That's a surprise."

Juliana glared at him but didn't say anything.

Through the rest of the class, he took potshots at other students for something or other. One student had gotten in trouble because her phone rang in class and one guy apparently was staring at a girl. He never seemed to 'Tanner' Corey though, which she found strange.

What she found strange was that she kept seeing blood all over her teacher's neck and he got after her a few for staring at him, which was embarrassing.

But thankfully the bell rang and it was time to go.

"Miss Gilbert, I would like a word with you," said Mr. Tanner before she could leave.

Juliana froze and a girl shouldered her out of the way, "Move it, nut case."

"Miss Gonzalez, that comment gives you lunch detention," called Mr. Tanner.

"Why?" asked the girl, Marissa, turning around to glare at the teacher.

"Don't give her degrading insults like that because she has a mental illness. That's harmful and I won't stand for comments like that in my classroom," said Mr. Tanner.

Marissa took off quickly without an apology.

For a brief moment, Juliana wondered if it was backwards day. She never knew Mr. Tanner to stand up for any student before.

"Uh, thanks?" replied Juliana.

"Let me just say this, Miss Gilbert, you're a good student and I don't want you to see you turn to a life like your brother's," said Mr. Tanner.

Juliana spluttered incoherently at that dig. "I'm trying to help him!"

"Trying or actually helping him?" asked Mr. Tanner. "There's a difference between those two, Miss Gilbert."

Juliana stared at him in slight as horror as it looked his neck sprouted two bloody puncture wounds and started bleeding heavily. Whatever he was saying seemed to be drowned out by a girl screaming in horror. Juliana got a weird buzzing sound in her ears and everything seemed to darken as the world seemed to tilt a little.

"Miss Gilbert!" Mr. Tanner said snapping his fingers in front of her face, actually snapping her out of what was going on.

She shook her head, looking at her teacher who seemed to be fine, but looking slightly concerned.

"Are you okay?" asked Mr. Tanner.

Juliana nodded, "Yeah. I…just had a hard falling asleep last night and…I got to go." She left the classroom quickly.

She knew that she shouldn't have stopped taking her medication. She skipped one day and this crap happens to her?

* * *

It was after school when Juliana was gathering some notebooks when Stefan came up to her.

"Hey, Juliana," said Stefan.

"What is it?" asked Juliana looking at him confused.

"Elena told me that you loved _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ since I asked about your necklace," said Stefan, looking at the Drink Me bottle.

Juliana nodded, "Yeah. Why?"

"Since Alice ate a cake to grow, I got you a necklace to go with the Drink Me one," said Stefan. He looked through his backpack and held up a [necklace](http://i.pinimg.com/originals/c4/e9/ac/c4e9ac67918177f1446b73bb920e3201.jpg) that was a square cookie. In it, it had EAT ME on it. It also had a silver key pendant.

Juliana was confused as she took the necklace and put it on, noticing that Stefan seemed to relax a little. "Well, thank you."

"Have you tried working on that…project yet?" asked Stefan.

Juliana grimaced, "No, sorry. I was busy."

"Oh," replied Stefan. He touched Juliana's shoulder. "Well, take your time. I know Damon and I were asking a lot for you."

Juliana looked at Stefan and saw that he had black eyes with veins around his eye sockets. She stepped away from him and blinked repeatedly. He seemed almost confused, and then realization dawned on him. "As part of being a witch, you possess psychic abilities, like being able to see the future."

Juliana rubbed her forehead, "Then what's with the black eyes, weird vein crap?"

"We'll talk about that later," said Stefan.

"Okay," replied Juliana confused.

Stefan was going to leave, "Oh, wait. I have another thing for you."

"Let me guess, more jewelry?" asked Juliana sarcastically.

"Actually, yes," said Stefan. "It was actually Adrienne's talisman." He took out a [bracelet](http://i.pinimg.com/474x/02/38/e4/0238e4cbeed536a7bb41b19857c5fe9d.jpg) that had red crystals in a shape of flowers. "My uncle found it and told me to give to a lucky girl. But I recognized it as Adrienne's talisman and knew that you should have it."

"What is a talisman?" asked Juliana taking the bracelet and looking at it. Strangely enough, she could _feel_ that it had magic in it.

"She didn't explain it very well, but talismans are used to give more power," said Stefan. He took the bracelet and wrapped it around Juliana's wrist, clasping it. It seemed to fit perfectly.

"Adrienne used a spell to make sure it always fits and won't come off unless she actually took it off," said Stefan.

"Thanks," replied Juliana.

"You're welcome, Juliana," said Stefan.

"Since you're dating Elena, you can call me Lia," said Juliana.

"I actually prefer Juliana," said Stefan.

* * *

Before Juliana could knock on the door, Sheila opened the door.

"I saw you through the window," said Sheila. She allowed Juliana inside the house. "I see that you got a new necklace."

Juliana took the Eat Me necklace off and handed it to Sheila. "It's from _Alice in Wonderland_."

"I see," said Sheila, looking at it. "Where did you get it?"

"Elena's new boyfriend, Stefan, gave it to me," explained Juliana.

Sheila prompted, "Stefan…?"

"Salvatore," clarified Juliana.

Sheila looked at the bracelet, "And I assume that he gave that to you too?"

"He said that it was Adrienne's talisman," said Juliana taking it off. She handed to Sheila who took it.

"Ah, yes, I can feel the magic in it. It is a talisman," said Sheila. She helped Juliana put it on. "Well, at least you have a talisman now, that's the first step."

"What's the second step?" asked Juliana.

"Knowing your history," said Sheila. "Unfortunately, I don't know much about your family history."

"Well, Damon and Stefan confused me for Adrienne, Damon gave me Adrienne's grimoire," said Juliana. She undid the strap on her backpack and took it out. "And Adrienne Ainsley's name sounded familiar to Jeremy and he looked her up. Apparently she disappeared in the seventeen-hundreds and I look very similar to her."

"That's interesting. You must be a doppelganger or at least a look-alike," said Sheila.

"Isn't that the same thing?" asked Juliana.

"You have a lot to learn," said Sheila. She led Juliana to the dining room.

* * *

After the lesson with telekinesis, and feeling a headache forming, Juliana left Bonnie's home. Sheila was nice enough to let her go home early since she had to be there for Jeremy's therapy. Damon drove up in his Camaro.

"Need a ride?" asked Damon.

Juliana got in and he seemed to notice the Eat Me necklace instantly. He frowned, "Let me guess, Stefan?"

"Yeah," replied Juliana. "He told me that being a psychic is part of being a witch. And when he touched my shoulder I saw that he had black eyes and veins around his eye sockets. He said that'll explain it later though. Not sure when though."

"Did he now?" asked Damon driving off.

Juliana got a text message and she took her phone out of her shoulder bag. She looked at it, "It's Jeremy." She looked at Damon and his pupils seemed to dilate.

"Tell him that you don't want to talk to him," said Damon.

Juliana felt her mind cloud and she flipped open her cell phone. Before she can even respond to him, she seemed to snap back and she looked at Damon.

Damon seemed to nod, "Figures."

"What?" asked Juliana confused.

"Nothing, don't worry too much about it," said Damon. "I just have to talk to Stefan later. How was school?"

"Well, I got Tannered in class, again," said Juliana.

"'Tannered'?" asked Damon.

"Our history teacher, Mr. Tanner, likes to embarrass us in front of the class by subtly insulting us," said Juliana. "Jeremy went to class and apparently Mr. Tanner thought that I wouldn't show up, like we swapped places or something."

"Sounds like he's a dick," said Damon. "He shouldn't be teaching."

"He's also the football coach," said Juliana.

"Of course he is," said Damon.

"I really don't know how to feel about him. He's a jerk," said Juliana. "However, he did give a girl detention because she insulted me."

"One good thing doesn't outweigh the terrible things," said Damon.

"Are you speaking from experience?" asked Juliana.

Damon stayed oddly quiet.

* * *

Apparently Elena had made dinner plans with Bonnie and Stefan. That was around the time that Jeremy's therapy session was, so after the session, they were going to go out to eat.

While they sat in the waiting room, Juliana took out _Dracula_ because it seemed interesting. "Do you think someone will write music that's based on books?"

Jeremy was busy looking at the door like he wanted to run out of there, not that Juliana blamed him. When their parents first took her to therapy, she wanted to run out of there because she was terrified of the diagnosis.

"Hey, did I ever tell you that the first time I went to therapy, I actually hid in the restroom?" Juliana asked Jeremy.

Jeremy actually smiled at that, "You did?"

Juliana smiled back, "Yeah. Mom actually had to pull me out of the restroom." She frowned at the mention. "Dad was mad though because he thought it was embarrassing."

"Where was I at when that happened?" asked Jeremy confused. "I didn't even know that you saw a therapist here. I know you mentioned group therapy from the mental hospital and that there was a therapist there."

"They didn't want you and Elena to know at first. They didn't want to make a big deal about it in case it was nothing serious."

Before Jeremy could reply, his name was called. Jeremy looked a little panicked and reached out to take Juliana's hand. Juliana was a little surprised, but squeezed his hand as reassurance. Jeremy walked away. He definitely looked like he didn't want to be there.

Juliana sympathized with him on that.

* * *

When Jeremy finally came back into the waiting room, Juliana stood up, putting her book in her backpack.

Aunt Jenna asked, "How did it go?"

"I have to come back on Saturday," said Jeremy, leaving.

"It takes time," said Juliana hurrying to catch up to her brother.

"I know," said Jeremy. "I didn't even say anything to him."

"Its fine," said Juliana. "He most likely wants you to talk when you're ready."

"I know. That's what he told me," said Jeremy.

"Everything will get better," said Aunt Jenna. "Slowly, but eventually we'll get there. Let's go the Grill."

"No," said Juliana and Jeremy at the same time.

Aunt Jenna looked surprised.

"Lockwood is probably there and I don't want to deal with him," said Jeremy.

"True," said Juliana.

"Well, where do you want to go?" asked Aunt Jenna.

A few minutes later, Juliana was crawling through some tube in an indoor playground at a McDonald's, Jeremy grumbling as he followed after her.

Aunt Jenna was watching them; regretting that she took them there.

* * *

It was after Juliana got home and was opening up Adrienne's grimoire in her room, when Elena knocked on the door and walked in.

"Damon asked about you," said Elena.

Juliana was confused about that. "What?"

"He wanted to know where you were at," said Elena.

"Why?" asked Juliana.

Elena replied "I think he was expecting you to be here."

Juliana frowned, "Why would he expect me to be here?"

Elena shrugged, "Don't know. I guess it's because he thinks of you as a little sister and wanted to see you or ask how you were doing with tracking that girl…Adrienne?"

"I'm not sure if I want to," admitted Juliana. "One, I'm beginning to think this girl is dead and two, I don't really want Damon or Stefan to be disappointed with me."

"Why would they be disappointed with you?" asked Elena.

"Well, I mean, I'm not even sure if I can even track people yet, and I don't even know what I'm doing," said Juliana. "I can always go to Shiela."

"That would probably be for the best," said Elena. "Are you and Jeremy coming to the football game, tomorrow?"

"Why?" asked Juliana.

"It's Stefan's first game," said Elena. "It'll mean a lot to him if we came to support him."

Juliana sighed, "Fine. But I'm not cheering them on since Lockwood is on it."

Elena smiled, "That's fine with me." She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Juliana glanced at the window and saw that the curtains were closed. She sighed and leaned back on her bed.

* * *

_Mr. Tanner's dead body lying in a small pool of blood, two bloody puncture wounds in his neck._

" _Oh my god! Is that Tanner?" a girl asked in horror. There was a slight pause and someone screamed._

Juliana jerked awake and then sat up. She was breathing heavily. She had that nightmare again. She got out of bed and went down to the kitchen to make something to eat.

However, she didn't see anything to make and looked at the boxes of cereal.

* * *

Juliana could barely concentrate in her class, because her mind kept wandering over to her nightmare of Mr. Tanner's death.

When she was at her locker, Bonnie came up to her. "I know that you've been hanging out Grams lately, and I was wondering if she told you anything about being obsessed with numbers means."

Juliana frowned, "Isn't this something you should talk to her about?"

"She'll probably tell me that I'm a witch," said Bonnie.

Juliana shrugged, "I don't know. She never told me anything about numbers. Maybe they're your lucky numbers, like on the fortunes from fortune cookies."

"I don't think they're lucky numbers," said Bonnie. "Are you okay? You look tired."

"I had another nightmare," replied Juliana. "It's no big deal."

Bonnie looked like she didn't believe the younger teen. "All right, if you say so. Are you coming over to my house to talk to Grams again?"

Juliana nodded, "Yeah."

* * *

Juliana and Jeremy found a spot on the bleachers. Jeremy looked like he really didn't want to be at the football game. Juliana knew how he felt. She didn't want to be there either. However, she did enjoy watching the mascot burnings.

"You know, they never go all out for the other sports like they do for football." Juliana pointed out feeling slightly envious of how all out they do for the football team. She never saw her school do a mascot burning for basketball, softball, or baseball….

"Nobody cares about the other sports, except for soccer and baseball," said Jeremy.

That kind of hurt, but Juliana did have to agree, "True." It was sad that no one went all out for the other teams besides football.

They sat in a comfortable silence.

"Tell me again, why we have to be here for Elena's boyfriend again?" asked Jeremy.

Juliana shrugged, "To show him our support? Hell if I know."

Tanner was now talking about Stefan.

"Is it just me or does it sound like Tanner really wants to be in Stefan's pants?" asked Jeremy.

Juliana was now disgusted, "Ew! I really didn't need that mental image! That's going to give my nightmares nightmares! Ugh!"

Jeremy laughed at the reaction that he got out of Juliana. Juliana playfully shoved him, "You're a jerk."

Jeremy just shook his head and for a moment, everything seemed to go back to normal.

Juliana was glad that Jeremy wasn't thinking about his next therapy appointment and that they were getting back to how things were before the accident.

Of course it had to be ruined by no other than Lockwood himself.

Lockwood seemed to suck the fun atmosphere away from them.

"Why do you look so happy? I still have Vicki, you know," taunted Lockwood.

Juliana was bewildered at that and saw that Jeremy looked more annoyed than angry.

"Piss off, Lockwood," said Jeremy. "I'm done with your bull crap."

For a brief moment, Juliana wondered if Jeremy lied about how he didn't talk to his therapist at the appointment the previous day.

For a moment Lockwood looked surprised at that and then he sneered as he looked at Juliana. "After I get done with her, maybe I'll take you to bed with me. I heard that crazies are amazing at sex."

Juliana felt disgust and then surprise when Jeremy punched Lockwood.

"Don't talk to my sister like that again!" Jeremy shouted.

It caused the few people that they were sitting with to scatter.

That was the reaction that Lockwood wanted. He grabbed the front of Jeremy's shirt and pushed him back in the trunk. Juliana got up and started slapping at Lockwood's hands.

"Get lost, Lockwood!" shouted Juliana. "You ruin everything, you douche!"

"Douche? Get better insults, Gilbert!" snapped Lockwood.

"I would actually call you a dick, but you don't have one!" replied Juliana.

That must have distracted him a little because Jeremy grabbed Lockwood's shoulders and threw him to the ground. Juliana stepped backwards a little as the two boys continued fighting. Lockwood got Jeremy on the ground and punched him.

Juliana ran over and pushed at Lockwood, "Get off of him!" Lockwood shoved her back and then smacked her hard, knocking her onto the ground. He seemed to way into the heat of the fight with Jeremy.

Pain erupted in her face and she grabbed her cheek.

Everything seemed to go quiet. For a moment Lockwood angry and then seemed to grow horrified.

Suddenly Stefan was right there in front of Lockwood. Someone ran over and pulled Juliana to her feet, but she didn't see who it was because she was surprised to see how _murderous_ Stefan looked.

"Apologize to Juliana! Right now before you make me do something that I will really regret!" ordered Stefan grabbing the front of Lockwood's jersey, still looking furious.

For a moment it sounded like there were murmurs of agreement from the crowd.

"Now!" ordered Stefan.

Lockwood looked terrified and looked at Juliana. "Sorry, didn't mean to hit you."

"Apology noted and pending," replied Juliana.

The crowd started dissipating, murmuring amongst themselves. Some of the crowd goers looked disgusted at Lockwood.

"Are you okay, Lia?" asked Bonnie looking concerned.

"I'm fine, he just surprised me," said Juliana.

Elena was checking on Jeremy. She demanded, "What the hell, Jeremy?"

"He really shouldn't be making degrading sexual comments at Lia," said Jeremy.

"He did?" asked Elena.

"Said something about crazies are good at sex," said Juliana.

"What a pig," muttered Elena.

"Worse knowing that he practically watched her grow up," said Bonnie.

"He was trying to get a rise out of Jeremy and it worked," said Juliana, rubbing her face. "Did either of you see how pissed Stefan looked when Lockwood accidentally slapped me?"

Bonnie and Elena shook their heads.

"He looked like he was about ready to shed Lockwood's blood in that moment," said Jeremy. "I was about ready to myself."

"I'll get you both some ice," said Bonnie.

"I think Jeremy needs it more than I do," Juliana replied.

"I'll help you, Bonnie," Elena said.

* * *

Jeremy and Juliana sat in silence for a while. Jeremy had a plastic bag of ice to his face.

"I'm going to stretch my legs, for a bit, okay?" replied Juliana.

"Sure, go ahead," said Jeremy.

Juliana nodded, got up and started walking around.

"Juliana!" called a female.

Juliana turned to see Vicki. "What is it?"

"I tried to stop Tyler from going towards Jeremy," said Vicki. "If it's any consolation, after that, I'm thinking of breaking up with him."

"If you do, that'll make Lockwood go after him even more," said Juliana. "And I'd rather not have my brother end up dead because of Lockwood."

"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Tyler ended killing Jeremy," said Vicki. "I'm sorry for Tyler slapping you."

"Its fine," replied Juliana as she started walking, with Vicki following her. "It was an accident."

"Not an excuse," said Vicki.

Juliana stumbled over something, and she grabbed onto Vicki's arm. "Sorry."

"What did you—?" started Vicki and looked down. "Oh my god! Is that Tanner?"

For a strange reason, the world seemed to tilt. This was just like her nightmare.

Juliana screamed.

Vicki grabbed Juliana and tried to shield her from the sight of the dead body.

"What happened?" asked Matt, running up. "Why is—?" He noticed the body, "Oh, no." He looked around and yelled, "Help! Somebody!"

* * *

Later that night, Damon had to check on Juliana. He had heard what the Lockwood did to her. If he was there and saw her get slapped, the only remains of Lockwood would've been his balls duct-taped to that fancy ass car of his.

He didn't mean for Juliana to find the body, though. He only lashed out at Tanner because she didn't like him.

To be honest, he was surprised at the fact that Juliana looked like Adrienne, but Juliana didn't have the vicious and cruel attitude that Adrienne had.

He had seen a bird land on the windowsill and Adrienne using her telekinesis to close the window on the bird, and then Adrienne laughing about it. When a man asked for her hand in marriage, she killed the man just because she wanted to. When Adrienne found that some boys found a girl to be more beautiful than her; she created a spell to make scars appear on the girl's face. When a dog tried to bite her, she used her magic to brutally kill the dog and then put it on display for the dog's owner to see.

If Lockwood had slapped Adrienne…Damon was sure that there wouldn't have been any remains left behind.

Adrienne had been a kind person, until she discovered she had magic. For some reason, the magic warped Adrienne; it blackened her heart. It had gotten to the point that Damon realized that he needed to kill her, before she brought Hell onto the earth, but she disappeared before that could happen.

He needed to find her. He thought he did back at the graveyard, but something about Adrienne was different. Then she introduced herself as Juliana, but he still wasn't sure. She pretended to be different people whenever he happened to run into her before.

Of course when he spotted her walking to school, he knew that she wasn't Adrienne. Adrienne prided herself on her hair; she would never do anything to her hair. So when the girl had dyed those streaks in her hair, Damon knew that she wasn't Adrienne.

Damon actually preferred Juliana over Adrienne. Juliana was kinder and she cared about people; except for Lockwood.

He still needed to find Adrienne and kill her. Yes, he still cared about Adrienne, he practically watched her grow up after all. She was like a little sister to him and Stefan. However with the amount of power she had…he couldn't let any of that to happen. He should've seen Adrienne for what she _truly_ was; a monster who had manipulated him and Stefan even worse than what Katherine had done.

But first….

He examined the small bruise that was on Juliana's cheek where Lockwood had slapped her. He felt a rush of anger go through him, but he squashed that down. He couldn't go after the Lockwood boy just yet. He needed to plan out Lockwood's death first and then he would kill him. He couldn't have Lockwood running around after hurting Juliana like that.

First he had to find and kill Adrienne, then he had to plan out Lockwood's death and how he would kill him, and then he would kill him.

Yes. That sounded like a good plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The part with Juliana saying if someone will write songs that's inspired by books is actually a reference to the band Ice Nine Kills, who written a concept album called Every Trick in the Book which is based off of classic novels, such as Dracula, Carrie, The Exorcist, and The Diary of Anne Frank….
> 
> I like to point out that Tyler accidentally slapped her. In the episode, when Stefan stopped him from punching Jeremy, Tyler shoved and punched Stefan, which was intentional, but in this it was more of the heat of the fight and Tyler does regret it.


End file.
